Kingdom Hearts 3: The True Keyblade Master
by Kingdomheartsspoof
Summary: One night as Sora sleeps, he has a vision of a new threat to the worlds. With his friends, Sora sets out to save the worlds by finding three individuals known as the Elements, without whom the universe may perish. Co-written by J0hnny0hm
1. The Vision

_After Sora, the Keyblade wielder, returned home, they all thought his story was done. Only when a letter from King Mickey arrived that they realized that only this chapter ended. Many more still lay ahead of the heroic boy_.

**Kingdom Hearts 3: The True Keyblade Master**

* * *

He laid there, looking at the stars that lit up the dark sky. He had been back home for a week, and he was enjoying it. After two years of fighting against dark forces, rest and relaxation were nice. He and his two best friends, Riku and Kairi, were finally together again. Even though they were only separated for a year, they had changed. Riku was taller and more muscular, having fought a fierce battle with his inner darkness. Kairi had grown taller, grown her auburn hair out to her shoulders, and was growing quite independent, learning how to effectively defend herself.

This boy, Sora, had changed, physically, only in height and clothing. The boy who wielded a Keyblade had changed much since he had come to have the ancient weapon. Still, despite these changes much had remained the same. Since they had gotten back home, routine had settled in again. Riku and Sora still competed over pretty much everything. Kairi still managed to drag Sora and Riku on scavenger hunts and shopping trips. And at the end of the day, the three hung out by their favorite paopu tree, looking out at the sunset.

Sora looked up at the paopu fruit tree that he was lying beneath. The sun shone, but the air carried a cool ocean breeze with it. He relished in how much he had truly missed this feeling. Fighting the Heartless, defeating Xemnas, and the struggle against darkness was finally over. Sora felt sleepiness come over him. He preferred not to fall asleep on the beach, but his body disagreed with him. Slowly, his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes looking up at the sky again. The stars were still out. Sora jumped up in relief seeing it was still night. He didn't want to wake up in the morning on the beach. He then pulled out his phone, seeing that the time was 9:30 P.M. Oddly enough, he had laid down on the beach at about the same time. "Water must have broken my phone," he muttered to himself.

He started to head back to his house. As he walked up the trail, the wind was calm and nice, blowing through the spikes in his hair, bringing a small smile to his face as he enjoyed the little luxuries. But then he noticed something over the hill. The trail leading onward gave way to lights and loud noises. He walked to the top of the hill and saw something.

Sora gasped, rubbing his eyes to check if he was hallucinated. What he saw was a huge city. The buildings weren't collosal, but they were quite big. Each one was lined with many different colors of light. All the billboards were lit up to and there were shopping centers and stores everywhere.

"What's happening?" Sora looked back, then jumped when he realized that his home was no longer in sight. "What happened to the islands?" He looked around, seeing no island. Instead, the bright lights of the buildings lit up the night. "Where am I? Japan?"

He stopped on the side of the street, looking in blankly at a television on sale as people walked past him through the busy street. Suddenly, the TV became fuzzy, displaying static. and then it shut off. Sora turned to see people screaming and running in the streets. Sora ran into the middle of the road. As he went one direction, everyone else ran the opposite way. Sora grabbed a man the was running "What's happening!" The man looked at him for a moment "Well? Come on, you've got to tell me!"

The man didn't say anything. With a horrified look on his face, he just pointed and Sora saw what they were running from. It looked to be a dark black and purple fog. It was practically hovering on the ground. The man broke free of Sora's grip and ran once agan. Sora looked around to see he was the only one standing there in the street. The fog began to approach him, Sora summoned his Keyblade as the fog started to circle around him.

The fog started to disperse and created humanoid-looking figures. Their hands were claws with yellow eyes. They looked like Heartless but Sora could tell that these were a different variety of creatures. Sora then ran to one and slashed one, but it was usless. His weapon just went threw fog creature. The creature then slashed Sora, who fell on the ground. Blood lead from his arm the he blocked the attack with. He stood up and looked at the creatures upon which his weapon had no effect. "What's happening?"

Right then one of the creatures tried to slash Sora, but he was quicker this time. He jumped up, hit the building side and jumped away from the fog. Once he hit the ground he began to run as the fog quickly followed after him. Sora then turned looking at the creature. Breaking his thoughts down to figure out how to beat it, Sora remembered that fog was, in essence, water. Water had a weakness. Turning around, he pointed his Keyblade at the fog. "Thunder!" The electricity flowed through the air and struck the fog. A loud shriek was heard before it slowly parted, fading from the air.

Sora sighed in relief that the creature was gone. _What was that thing_? Sora thought to himself. It was tough to beat and unlike most other creatures he had ever faced before.

"You're thinking of what they are and where they come from, aren't you?"

Sora quickly turned to see someone. He was tall with long, black, wavy hair, wore a long red cape with a black shirt and pants. He wore a cold expression on his face and held his arms to his sides. One was covered in brass, displaying a large, claw-like hand. The other was a normal-sized hand, holding a long, triple-barreled gun.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, stepping forward. "What's going on here?"

The man remained firm, keeping a stern face. "My name is Vincent Valentine. You're Sora, wielder of the Keyblade. It's pretty hard for one such as myself not to know about you."

Sora nodded "Vincent," he repeated, echoing the man's name. The man's voice was very deep and solemn, much like the voices of his friends Cloud and Leon. Was it possible that this man knew Sora's friends? Sora couldn't ponder these thoughts right now, for he had business to discover. "Look, what's happening here?"

Before Vincent could answer they both heard a loud whooshing coming from the sky. They both looked to the sky as the clouds were turning purple and black. "Time's almost up."

"Whats almost up?" Sora asked frantically. "Is there anything we can do to stop it? Is it bad, is it-?"

Vincent held up his clawed, brass hand. "You ask way too many questions, kid." Sora grumbled softly, hating it when he was referred to as 'kid'. Vincent stepped away from Sora, heading off in another direction. "I suggest you don't follow me Sora, but you'll find your way back home sooner or later." Vincent looked back up to the sky. "Better hurry up, though." Vincent disappeared into the darkness of an alley way before Sora could say anything.

The Keybearer took little note of it and rushed back another way. He could see and hear people run away in the unorganized chaos. They had no idea where to go or what to do. Despite the mystery of the situation, Sora did know one thing well enough: the world was in danger and it was his duty to stop it. He summoned his Keyblade, but had no idea what he was up against.

_BOOM_! Sora looked up to see a tall building explode, toppling over and catching fire. People started to scream and panic. Sora barely had the time to look at one building before the destruction continued. More buildings toppled and followed suit of the first building. Crashes and explosions raged everywhere. Sora then looked up, seeing that, from the sky, what appeared to be hundreds of black figures rained down upon the world.

Sora began to run from it, he knew he couldn't beat all of them alone. He began to run like everyone else in the city. The screaming of people falling behind into the darkness wasn't a pretty sight. They screamed and when the darkness got them, their scream just stopped and they were gone. Sora was horrified . He started to run across a twenty-foot bridge, but he heard crackling as the bridge started to collapse underneath him. Sora jumped as it fell apart and his hands barely reached the other side. Determined, he lifted his hand to get a better hold, only for that grip to fail him and send him off of the broken bridge. That would've been his end if a hadn't reached down to pull him back up.

Sora felt a tug on his arm as he was caught by something cold and very stiff. He looked up to see the identity of his savior only to see his arm clasped by a large, brass hand. "Vincent!"

Vincent wordlessly brought Sora back up to solid ground. Sora looked back to his surroundings to see the dark energy swirling everywhere, promising a grim fate of the world if something wasn't done. The smoky darkness was coming at them, ready to swallow anything in its path. Sora spotted a particular man, the one who he had seen before, running as the smoke gained on him. Sora rushed forward, watching as the man was tripped up and beginning to get pulled in by tendrils that sprang from the smoke. "NO!" Sora grabbed the man's hands and pulled with as much force as he could, but the darkness held too strong a grip. Sora fell backward as the screaming man was tugged into the darkness, lost.

A terror-stricken Sora turned to Vincent. "What the heck is happening?" When Vincent didn't answer, Sora's irritation grew. He grabbed the collar on Vincent's shirt in anger "I know you know, Vincent! Why aren't you telling me!" Vincent stayed quiet as he looked over his shoulder at the looming cloud. Sora looked back nervously as well. He closed his eyes tightly to prepare for the impact, but instead felt Vincent pulling Sora's arm away form his shoulder and leaning forward, whispering to Sora.

"Sora, you were brought here for this reason: To witness the destruction that is happening in the worlds. It's up to you to rescue these innocent lives, and protect any more from being taken." He looked up into the dark sky with affirmation. "Sora, only you and the Elements can stop him."

_Him?_ Sora wondered. "Wait, who's him? What are you talking about?"

"We will meet again, Sora, and we will fight alongside each other. But for now, you must go home." They both looked up to see a bright light shine. Sora covered his eyes while the darkness washed over him. But just as soon as that happened, the light returned to illuminate the area, bringing Sora to unconsciousness once again.

* * *

Sora shot up breathing hard with sweat coming down his face as he looked around. He was back on Destiny Island, exactly where he had fallen asleep. He looked around to see the crystal blue ocean with the moon's reflection shining on the water. He looked at his almost-dead fire. As he stood up and turned around to see the paopu fruit tree and he walked past it to head back home. He didn't want his mom coming into his room seeing he's no there. After all he got back his mom was always so protective over him, after all he was gone for a year with death on the line that can do things to a parent.

Sora began to walk back to his house, he begin to think. His dream seemed so real, and this Vincent what did he mean by "the Elements"... Sora shook his head. _Maybe my mind is messing with me after all I went through. I'm surprised I'm not crazy_. Sora continued to walked home until he got there and crawled through his open window and got into bed. In deep need of rest, he closed his eyes and instantly let sleep take him.

* * *

Sora opened his eye's and sat up after his sleep. He got up and looked out the window. The weather was beautiful, the sun was bright and he relished a cool breeze entering through his window. He smiled as another good day back home started.

"Hey, idiot!"

Hearing the call behind him, Sora didn't have to turn around to know who had come to call. "Good morning to you too, Riku," Sora said with a sarcastic smile.

"I just called you an idiot and you respond like _that?_" Riku shook his head, chuckling as he did so. "What a sap!"

Sora only chuckled. "Get out so I can get dressed." With a slight shrug, Riku departed as Sora closed the door and got dressed. Sora dressed a little bit different than he had been for a long time. He put on a dark blue t-shirt and wore jeans with normal sized white and gray shoes. Sora opened his door and headed down the stairs to see Riku sitting at the table talking to his mother.

"So Riku, how's school?" Sora's mom asked.

Riku raised his eyebrow with little regret. "It's school. Put the rest together yourself."

Sora's mom chuckled. Riku clothing has changed a bit. He wore torn jeans and black shoes with a black t-shirt with what looked to be red waves on his shirt.

"Hey Mom, Riku and I are gonna hang, alright?"

Sora's mother started to shuffle nervously "Oh..uh, are you sure, sweetie?"

Sora nodded. "I'll be fine, Mom."

"He's right," Riku replied, putting his arm around Sora. "He's got me, a big strong man, to watch his back."

"Egotistical much?" Sora shot back with a sarcastic glare.

"Very well," Sora's mom finally allowed. "But don't stay out very late, okay?"

"It's the morning, Mom," Sora reminded. "Just relax! I'll be fine." With a final nod to her, Sora and Riku stepped out the door, waiting until they had walked along the path a ways to begin the discussion.

"So I see you haven't told her yet," Riku said as he walked to side of Sora. He nodded

"Yeah, I don't know how to. She's been so worried about me ever since I got back. If I told her I was leaving again, it would crush her." Riku stopped walking and turned to Sora slowly. Sora noticed this a moment later and turned to look at his friend. "Riku?"

"I didn't mean your mom," Riku answered. "Regardless of what happens, she'll know you'll be able to handle it." He sighed solemnly. "I'm talking about Kairi."

Sora's face turned sad. When they got the letter from the king saying he need help again, Riku and Sora decided together that Kairi shouldn't come. They didn't want her to get injured. Sora was really scared for her safety. In a way, it was his fault, his role as Keyblade Master, that got her into messes like this, and he could do nothing to stop it. Sora never wanted her hurt again.

"You can't hide this from her, Sora," Riku chided.

Sora sighed. "She'll probably take this worse than my mom will."

Riku frowned in agreemnt. "It'll be hard on a lot of people," Riku reminded. "We vanish, then we reappear over a year later only to leave again. That can't be easy on our friends, but it's necessary." He patted a solemn Sora on the shoulder before stepping away. "C'mon. Kairi's waiting for us."

A girl waited patiently on the beach for her friends. This girl was quite beautiful, and looked even more so with the sunset's light cast upon her. She wore a violet tank top with blue jeans that cut off just below her knees.

This girl, Kairi, was happy, and for good reason: she and her friends had come back home.

Riku had faced much in the past year or so. His heart struggled against the darkness within him, a battle that was not easy for the silver-haired teenager. But, as always, Riku came out on top of his demons and managed to safely return home.

Sora was a slightly different case. Her spiky-headed friend had been off saving the world, even her on a couple of occasions. Having once sacrificed his own heart in order to rescue her, he owed him so much, and would do nearly anything. She lo-

Before the thought could form in her head, she felt two sources come up behind her and lift her up. They each took hold of one of Kairi's legs, hoisting her up to their shoulders as they did so.

Sora chuckled at Kairi's surprised gaze. "Good day, Princess," Sora said to his friend.

"Where to, Your Majesty?" Riku asked, half-sarcastically.

Kairi giggled at her friends' antics. "Why, to go shopping, loyal servants!" The smiles vanished as Sora and Rku looked at each other. With little hesitation, they quickly hoisted Kairi off of their shoulders and onto the ground before taking off in a run. "Hey, get back here!" Kairi yelled in protest, taking off after them.

Sora was contemplating the fact that he and Riku always won the races against Kairi, and he took a moment to look back at her progress. "Whoa!" To his great surprise, Kairi was nearly upon him, already leaping forward. Sora's surprise overtook his chance to escape and Kairi arrived, tackling him to the ground at the same moment.

Riku walked up and started to laugh "Break it up, love birds!

"Huh?" Sora and Kairi made brief eye contact with each other. "Oh!" They both got up quickly to escape this awkward moment, both of their faces flushing red a little bit. Riku bowed his head in laughter and Kairi saw an opportunity. When Riku raised his head again, he was too late to prevent Kairi from tackling him to the sand as well.

"Whoo!" She cheered, high-fiving Sora as she got up from the sand and did a little victory dance.

"Congratulations, Kairi," Sora applauded. "You conquered me and Riku todoay."

"Why, thank you!" Kairi replied, bowing proudly.

"This is why we don't let her win, Sora." Riku rose from the sand, brushing himself off. "Because it ends with both of us losing." Sora shrugged in a passive manner.

Kairi, in the meantime, stuck her tongue out at Riku. "At least his ego isn't so inflated that he can let me win."

Riku huffed softly. "Bite me, Kairi."

"Riku!" Sora chuckled. "Going a little far, aren't you?"

Riku responded to his friend with a smack upside the back of his head. "Shut up, Sora."

"Come on, guys!" Kairi started to tug at their arms, pulling them along. "I won, so let's go!"

Sora and Riku's frowns deepened at the inevitable trip they were about to go on."You know Riku," Sora muttered, "I don't think I'm going to let her win again."

"Way to go, Sora," Riku replied. "You finally started thinking like men should think."

After a long, long, long, _long_, torturous day at the mall, the trio of friends decided to head to the usual hang out spot by the paopu fruit tree. Kairi sat on the tree trunk as Riku leaned against the tree. Sora stood at the head of the group, looking out into the sunset happily.

Some time passed, and Riku stood up from leaning on the tree. "I'd better head back. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Kairi jumped off the tree and nodded and hugged him. "Bye, Riku." Riku smiled softly and returned the gesture.

"Do I get a hug good-bye?" Sora joked.

Riku shook his head at his naive friend, and he motioned for Sora to come forward. Sora held out his hand, and Riku reflected this gesture. As they shook, Riku leaned forward and patted Sora on the back, taking a chance to whisper to Sora.

"Tell her."

Sora gulped softly. He knew it was inevitable, but he wished it didn't have to come now. But as Riku made his way home, Sora found his way back, hopping up to the tree trunk to sit beside Kairi. It was an awkward silence for a bit. Sora didn't want to be the one to break the silence, but if it continued longer, he could go crazy. But as he opened his mouth, Kairi spoke.

"I really missed you, Sora."

Sora looked at her. She was looking out at the sunset. The sun glowed a pretty shade of orange, lighting up Kairi's already beautiful features. "I missed you too, Kairi. A whole lot." Sora chuckled to keep the mood light, and Kairi smiled a bit as well. Sora knew that he needed to get down to business now or never. Taking a deep breath, he began. "Kairi, we need to talk-"

"Sora?" Kairi cut him off again. "Are you excited to head off to another adventure?" Sora nodded slowly in response.

_I'd be happier,_ he thought, _if you could go with me._

Kairi smiled eagerly. "I'm so excited to go on one. I'm sick of being the damsel in distress. I want my 'warrior-princess' days to begin!" The excitement in her voice was astounding.

"It's about that, Kairi," Sora replied softly. "Me and Riku have talked about it. We don't want you to be in danger, so..." He winced before he let the words leave his mouth, though it was with great difficult that he allowed them to. "We think you shouldn't come."

It was silent again, and Sora reluctantly turned to face his friend. He didn't like to be the messenger of bad news, and this was no exception. Kairi's mouth hung open, and her blue eyes were wide with confusion and sadness.

"Why, Sora?" she asked.

Sora sighed "We want you to be safe Kairi. We-"

"I don't care about that!" Kairi interjected, inducing a noticable flinch from Sora. "I just want to be with you and Riku." She looked into his eyes, trembling with hope that he would reconsider. "Sora...I spent a whole year waiting and worrying for you and him to come home. I know I wouldn't be able to do it again." She took his hand, her eyes threatening to yield tears. "It kills me waiting for you guys."

Sora frowned and wrapped his arms around her for a hug, running his fingers through her red hair trying to make her feel better. "Kairi...you can come."

"You mean it?" Sora gasped softly at his slight moment of weakness which had yielded the opposite result he was intending to go for. It was too late, though, and Kairi hugged Sora tightly with excitement. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed with excitement.

Sora was hesitant. In less than a second, his whole plan had been upset by Kairi. Now she was so excited that he couldn't deny her a chance to go on the journey with them. She was a very energetic, determined girl. Sora liked this about her. By this point, it didn't seem like a big deal that she would come along with them. He hugged her back and smiled. "No problem."

They stayed out there and spoke to each other until the sun had set on the horizon before they started to go home. They both stepped into a rowboat, each taking an oar and rowing back to the main island, where all the residents usually stayed. Once ashore, Sora decided to walk Kairi home. When they finally reached Kairi's home, they both stopped at the front door. "Thanks for the great day Sora, and letting me tackle you."

Sora smiled and nodded. "No worries."

"And thanks for letting me come with you," Kairi added sweetly.

Sora put both of his hands behind his head. "I saw how worried you were about me and Riku. I don't want you going through that again." He removed his hands from his head and his smile shrank a little bit. "I'm just worried about you."

She smiled and walked up to him and hugged him, Sora hugged her back. "Good night, Kairi."

"Good night, Sora." The two ended their hug and Kairi walked into her house. Satisifed, Sora walked away. He passed a few more houses before he stepped up to his own house, heading for his door, where Riku stood in waiting.

Wait a second! "Riku?" Sora gasped in surprise. For a few seconds, he endured a serious stare from his best friend.

"You let her come didn't you?" Riku accused.

Sora was absolutely speechless. _How did he know?_ he thought to himself.

"I knew you would."

Sora raised his eyebrow, surprised even more. "What are you-?"

Riku smiled. "Sora, I knew you would let her come. I knew you'd feel too bad to say 'no'. So that's why I made you tell her."

"Wait a minute!" Sora realized suddenly, becoming a bit irritated. "You mean you lied to me? I was all worried about how Kairi would react, and you were planning to let her come all along?"

"That pretty much sums it up," Riku confirmed, smirking. "But it was funny, right?"

Sora glared at Riku. Riku knew this glare, its the glare when Sora is so mad, your pretty much screwed. Riku then began to run, Sora Started running after him. " Come back here ass!" Sora started chasing Riku down the street.

After about an hour of chasing Sora finally caught Riku and hit him the side of the head

"Ow! Sora!" Riku rubbed his head a little bit, then shrugged. "Eh...I deserve this."

Sora nodded while breathing heavily. "Yes, you do."

Riku chuckled. "At least your not a total sap anymore, you will actually hit me, and it will hurt." Sora chuckled and they both started walking back home. "Hey Sora can I spend the night?"

Sora shrugged. "Sure, as long if you will help me tell my mom about us leaving."

Riku groaned. "Fine, I will."

* * *

Sora and Riku walked in the house and sat down at the table. Sora then saw his mom walk in, she wasn't happy. "Sora! Do you know what time it is?"

Sora looked at Riku for assistance, and Riku quickly summoned a smart remark. "Uh...is it party time?" he asked with an innocent smile.

Sora's mom just glared at Riku, who followed by keeping his mouth closed.

"It's only 8:30," Sora replied

"Exactly!" she replied in a huff. "I wish you wouldn't stay out so late."

Sora sighed. This routine had become normal ever since he had returned home. "Mom, nothing happened to me. Nothing will. I promise!"

His mother calmed herself a bit, letting out a deep sigh. "Look, I know I may seem a little over-protective, but you try having your child disappear inexplicably for a year and stay sane. You must understand why I'm so worried." She bowed her head softly. "What if you have to leave again? And what if you don't come back?"

Sora knew this would be coming. "Mom, I understand why you worry for me, but you've got to let that go. I have saved the worlds twice. I can handle myself just fine." He thought carefully of his next words. "I didn't ask for that journey to happen. Our world was swallowed by darkness, and there was nothing left to do except follow where the Keyblade took me."

His mother could not deny such accomplishments. "You are right, of course. I'm sorry I was a little ov-" She was cut off by the faces Riku and Sora were giving her, to which she rolls her eyes at. "Fine, way over-dramatic, but can't you admit my heart is in the right place?"

"Of course it is," Riku agreed. "You're a mother who cares about her son's safety. Oh, and speaking of him leaving again-" Riku flinched at Sora's mom, who froze instantly once the words had left his lips. Without another word, he handed her the letter they had received from the king. She took it quickly, before her mind could reject it. She opened it quickly and read over it. In contrast to her receiving of the letter, she read it quite slowly, increasing the nerves of the two boys in her vicinity. But when she finally reached the end of it, she let out a small sigh.

Sora broke the uncomfortable silence. "Mom?" he said. "Are you okay?"

She had a small chuckle. "Not really, no. But I know you have to go Sora"

Sora smiled. "Thanks, Mom." He walked over, kissing her on the cheek.

"Don't worry we'll keep in touch" Riku said trying to make her happier.

Sora's mom smiled. "You better or I'll make sure you both get grounded."

They both chuckled at the mock-threat. "Hey Mom, can Riku stay the night?" She nodded casually, and they nodded to her in thanks before heading to Sora's room.

That night in front of the television is when Sora brought up Riku's clearance to save the universe once again. "How are you gonna tell your parents?"

Riku shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard. They're more calm then your mom."

Sora nodded. "I wonder what Kairi is going though with her parents?"

"I don't know," Riku admitted.

Kairi sat upon her bed. Her mom...or rather, her adoptive mother, sat in silence. Such a reaction could be induced by many different things. In this case, it was her response to the news Kairi had given her about her impending departure.

"Are you gonna talk at all, Mom?" Kairi asked hopefully.

Her mom sighed. "Sorry, honey. My sanity wasn't fully prepared for this kind of news..."

Kairi scooted closer. "Don't worry, Mom." She smiled proudly. "I'm a girl capable of holding her own. I've got Sora and Riku, too!"

"That's true," her mother said with a small smile. "I trust those boys will keep you safe. They've been competing for your attention their whole lives, after all."

"Mom!" Kairi protested.

"I'm only concerned for your safety, Kairi," her mother assured. "Keep in contact, alright?" She turned to face Kairi, as if about to look at her for the last time, and then wrapped her arms tightly around her. "Bring me back some souvenirs from your travels."

Kairi returned the hug to her mother. "Sure thing, Mom. I'll make it's a good one!"

Kairi's mother stands up. "I've discussed this with your father. He has accepted your departure for one reason: he trusts Sora. Riku is a okay in his book, but he only truly trusts Sora with your well-being."

"Oh..." Kairi's face grew warm, and she stood up before the redness could become visible to her mother. "Well, whatever gets him to be okay with me leaving." She nodded to her mom briefly before she stepped out of the room. She needed to make a phone call...

Sora and Riku's important business was interrupted when the phone rang. Well, at least one could say that if watching television could be considered important business. Immediately, Sora flipped open his phone, pressing a speaker button on it.

"Hey, Kairi," Sora greeted. "You're on speaker. Riku's here too."

Riku leaned over by the phone, next to Sora. "Hey, Kairi!"

"_Hey guys!_" she replied happily. "M_y mom and dad said I could come!_"

Riku smirked and leaned over to Sora, whispering in his ear. "Congratulations, kiss-up."

Sora just shoved him to the side. "That's great, Kairi! Glad to hear you can come. But you know, Riku and I will have to train you to fight properly with the Keyblade.

A groan was easily heard on the other end of the phone. "_Come on guys. I can fight a bit already. I can learn on the job, can't I?_"

Before Sora could let another word out, Riku interjected, covering Sora's mouth. "Kairi, you have to do this. It's dangerous out there and we can't afford to having anything holding us back in battle. Yes, that _does _include you, no offense. You need proper training, and we're going to give it to you."

"_But..._" Beaten in the argument, Kairi sighed deeply. "_Fine, I'll train,_" she accepted. "_But for now, I need to sleep. I'll talk to you guys later. Good night Sora. Good night Riku._"

Sora let loose a yawn when Kairi mentioned the word 'sleep'. "Good night, Kairi." They both said at the same time. The sound of Kairi hanging up was heard just before Sora hung up his own phone. He looked over at Riku, slighty irritated. "Riku, why did you stop me from talking when Kairi complained about training?"

Riku smirked. "Because I knew you'd suck up to her again.

Sora glared at him. "That is not true!"

Riku laughed. "Sora, you letting her come when you thought we were going to make her stay home already proves my point: you can't say no to her."

Sora tried to retaliate, but had no explanation. He seemed to say whatever it took to make sure Kairi was happy. He was just too nice for his own good sometimes. "I just want her to be happy," he said.

Riku laid next to where Sora was sitting and sighed. "I know you do," he answered. "But in worlds that are full of danger, you need to draw a line. At some point, keeping her safe is going to become more important than making sure she is totally happy with everything." He turned over, beginning to close his eyes. "Just remember that, Sora. But in the meantime, get some sleep. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

Sora got up and saw that Riku fell asleep on his bed. Sora shook his head and chuckled _No way I'm sleeping in the same bed as him_, Sora thought to himself. He walked out of his room and turned off the light and then shut the door. Sora walked downstairs, entering his living room. He grabbed the blanket and jumped on the couch, covering himself with the blanket. As he closed his eyes, he could only imagine what awaited him on this new journey. Would the Heartless and Nobodies return in more powerful droves or would there be a new, much more powerful threat in their midst?

These questions would need to be answered later. Tomorrow, Kairi's training began.


	2. Training

Sora opened his eyes, barely. He stretched his arms and legs out as he laid on his couch. A full night's sleep was doing good things for his energy. At the end of the day, he was glad he could look forward to rest and relaxation rather than simply a break from fighting.

His half-open eyes detected a figure standing above him.

"You're so cute when you sleep."

Sora heard this and smiled softly. "Why, thank you, Kairi," he mumbled, still half-asleep. Then he heard chuckling follow this statement. Sora froze for a moment. That chuckling, for sure, did not come from Kairi. He blinked several times to clear his vision and, regrettably, he saw Riku holding his stomach, chuckling wildly.

"Riku!" Sora complained. "What the heck are you doing?"

Riku just shook his head in laughter. "Come on, Sora! You gotta admit that was priceless!" He cleared his throat and imitated a girl's voice. "_You're cute when you sleep~_" This only extracted more laughter from him, as well as more anger from Sora

"Not cool, Riku," Sora complained, laying back in bed.

Riku finished his laughter and stood up. "Come on, now. Kairi's training begins today, remember?"

Sora nodded softly before Riku exited his room. With a sigh, he got out of bed and stood wearily up. _This is going to be a long day..._ he lamented to himself.

After Riku left, Sora got ready. This time he dressed in a plain white T-shirt and greyish- blue jeans. Lastly, he put on a pair of white tennis-shoes. Needing no time to fix his naturally spiky hair, he walked out of his room and towards the front door. Riku was waiting for him, wearing noticeably darker clothing. His shirt was red on the torso with rolled-up black sleeves, slightly worn jeans, and black shoes.

"Ready to go?" Riku asked. Sora nodded in return. At that moment, his mom came around the corner in a bathrobe, rubbing her tired eyes. She must have awoken from the noise they had made while getting up, but she was still mostly asleep. "Sora?"

"Morning, Mom," Sora greeted with a small smile. "Riku and I are going outside to do dangerous, life-threatening activities."

His mother yawned softly. "Okay, honey. You two have fun with that." Sora and Riku snickered softly at her unaware state of mind. The parted with a few waves of their hands, then walked out the door. They made their way down the steps to the path and then walked towards Kairi's house.

"Nice weather," Riku observed, noting the sunny sky with a slight breeze to keep the temperature perfect.

"You gonna miss it?" Sora asked curiously.

"Yeah," Riku answered, nodding. "You?" Sora nodded. "But focus on the important thing right now: Kairi needs this training, Sora. Badly."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked. "Kairi doesn't seem that bad at fighting."

"She's only fought with a Keyblade once before," Riku reminded. "She can't truly wield a Keyblade properly. Remember what happened in gym?"

**FLASHBACK**

The baseball field was packed with inhabitants of the island, attending the physical education class. Kairi was stepping up to the plate, holding the bat and taking a few practice swings.

"Come on, Kairi!" Riku supported from the line of waiting batters. He looked out to shortstop, where Sora was standing idly, waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball.

Kairi nodded to Riku and got into batting stance. The pitcher threw the ball towards home plate. Kairi stepped forward with her left foot and swung. But instead of the big CLANG sound that a bat makes when it makes contact with a bat, there was a WHOOSH as the bat slipped out of her fingers.

Sora was gazing off into space when it happened, but he heard the bat fly out of her hands and the gasp of the other students. "Huh?" He looked back towards home plate, not seeing where the bat was...at least until he looked a couple feet to his left. "Holy- OW!" Sora had looked in time to have the bat collide with the side of his head, knocking him to the ground.

Very hard.

"OOOH!" A group of students flinched in unison at the impact. Others laughed wildly at the pain of their classmate. Kairi gasped loudly and put a hand over her mouth, and Riku's mouth was wide open, unsure of how to react.

"Oh man..." Sora laid back on the ground, in too much pain to get up, wincing from the pain he felt. A bunch of students gathered around to see if he was alright. He sighed a final sigh as the world went black.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Sora gulped softly. "She probably could use some help," he agreed instantly.

"And that was with a bat," Riku reminded. "That knocked you out for twenty minutes. A Keyblade could probably get you for two hours." Riku chuckled a little bit. "Or permanently."

Sora glared at him "Riku, that's not funny. You know Kairi has never played baseball since that happened."

"She didn't want to hurt anybody like she hurt you," Riku explained. "She's strong, but she's got a good sense of control. Kinda like you, Sora." He smirked. "Of course, that's what makes you such a sap."

"Says the guy who gave me ice after the incident?" Sora chuckled, earning a light smack from Riku on the back of his head. "Ah!" Sora rubbed that spot with his left hand. _Worth it_, he thought.

Soon enough, both the boys approached Kairi's house. On the side of the house was a small garage opened up. Inside was a man waxing his car. He was tall, fairly muscular, and lean. This was the mayor of Destiny Islands and Kairi's surrogate father ever since she arrived, more than ten years ago.

"Morning, Mayor," Sora greeted politely, saluting him.

Riku whistled when he saw the car. "She's quite a beauty, sir."

The mayor stood up, chuckling softly. His voice was deep, but smooth. "Glad you think so, Riku." He put down his buffer on a work bench full of tools just to the left of the car. "What brings you boys here? Looking for Kairi?"

"Uh, yeah..." Sora nodded. "Is she around?" He tried to keep his cool, as it was a little intimidating to be talking to the man who, essentially, was Kairi's father.

"Yup!" The mayor nodded towards his house. "Go on in. She's in her bedroom upstairs." He chuckled at Sora's stiff posture. "You gotta relax, Sora. You and Riku have known her so long, you're one of the few I trust to even go near her!"

Sora exhaled softly, relieved. "Right...hehe...thank you, sir!" He nodded happily to him before he started up the steps to the door. He opened up the front door with Riku just behind him. It was a good-looking house, organized and smelling quite sweet, like flowers.

"Wow..." Riku shook his head sadly. "Even with all the power he has as mayor, he can't even control his house from being taken over by the girls." No sooner had he said that did he notice a large T.V, with a couple of football trophies on top of it.

"I guess that T.V and his car are what keeps him sane," Sora joked with a chuckle. He nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. "Come on, Riku." He stepped up the stairs, two at a time. He reached the top and walked down a short hallway. The second door on the right is what he knocked on. "Kairi?" he spoke. "It's me and Riku. You ready?"

The door opened up and was pulled open from the inside. This act of opening a door revealed the face of a smiling Kairi. She wore a pink tank-top with blue jeans that cut off just below her knees. "Morning, guys!" she greeted. "I'm ready to train!"

"Right this way, future warrior princess!" Riku gestured towards the stairs. Kairi stepped out of her room, closing her door behind her. She followed her friends back down the stairs, through the living room, and out the door.

Waving to her stepfather, Kairi started along the dirt path with her friends. "So what am I going to learn first?" she asked, her voice becoming something of an eager squeal.

"How to handle the Keyblade properly," Riku answered. "You've fought with it once, but a little technique could help you, and others around you."

"Others around me?" Kairi tilted her head. "What do you mean?" Sora wordlessly signaled to the side of his head, then made a motion with his arms as if to swing a baseball bat. "I'm really sorry for that, Sora. Honest!" She forced a small smile, trying to get past the guilt.

"That was a while ago, Kairi," Sora reminded with a small smile. "It doesn't really hurt that much anymore."

"Oh really?" Riku smirked. "Let's test that." He used his palm and bopped Sora on the spot.

"AAH!" Sora winced a bit, seething from the sting. "Riku!" His best friend laughed until Kairi punched him in the side.

"Lay off, Riku," she demanded, chuckling a little. "I need you both in good shape for my training."

"Sora's only going to halt your progress," Riku affirmed. "You need a real warrior to train you."

"You're right, Riku," Kairi nodded. Then she smirked. "Do you know any?"

It was roughly ten more minutes until they reached the beach. Across the water was the island they usually hung out. They all piled into a small rowboat. Kairi sat happily while Riku and Sora each held an oar, turning them in the water and pushing it across the distance to the island. The water reflected the clear blue sky.

When they neared the dock, Riku was the first out of the boat. He pulled up a rope and tied it to a wooden post. He walked ahead while Sora climbed out of the boat next. Kairi stood up and Sora offered her his hand. With a small giggle, Kairi took it. Sora pulled her up enough to where she could lift her leg to the dock on her own. They followed Riku across the beach, stepping up the ramp and crossing the bridge to their usual spot.

Kairi took a deep breath and smiled widely. "Can we start now?"

"First, summon your Keyblade," Sora encouraged. He and Riku complied with that action, and Kairi nodded. She held out her hand and closed her eyes. Accessing the powers of her heart, she brought the weapon into her hand.

"Okay, I've got it. Now what am I-" She was interrupted when she saw Sora swinging his Keyblade at her. With a shriek, she held it up to defend herself. When Sora's Keyblade made contact with hers, it immediately flew out of her hand and landed a few feet away. The blade plunged into the sand and stayed still. Kairi took a couple more breaths before turning to Sora and Riku with a slightly shocked expression.

Sora relaxed his fighting stance. "That's the first lesson, Kairi. Expect the unexpected. Something could jump out and attack you at any time, just like I did. You have to keep a firm hold of your Keyblade, otherwise you might not be able to summon it back in time."

Kairi nodded. "Got it." She held out her hand, bringing her Keyblade back into her grip. "So I need to hold on tightly?"

"That helps," Riku answered. "But there's also better ways of blocking that will let you hold onto it. You also need to be very aware of your surroundings and what's happening around you."

Kairi nodded, mentally committing these lessons to her memory. "So how will we start?"

"We'll demonstrate it for you." Sora held his Keyblade out to the side with both hands, facing Riku. With an eager smile, Riku held his right hand, the one with the Keyblade, above his shoulder and the other hand out towards Sora, challenging him.

Sora charged at Riku, swinging his Keyblade at Riku's hip. Riku brought his Keyblade straight down to block the attack. Sora released the Keyblade with his left hand and grabbed Riku's hand, keeping Riku's Keyblade at bay. Riku used his own left hand to punch Sora in the chest, to which Sora stumbled back a bit.

Sora nodded softly to his friend. "Good job," he congratulated. He turned to Kairi. "See hwo fast Riku blocked my attacks?" he asked. She nodded in understanding. "And he nearly took away my footing, which would've left me open for some serious hurt."

"Wow..." Kairi blinked a few times as Sora explained this. He clearly knew what he was doing, and it was a whole lot for her to master in such a short time. Still, she was up for the challenge "Alright."

"Your turn again, Kairi," Riku said, allowing his Keyblade to vanish. "This time, don't hold back on Sora, because an enemy won't hold back on you."

Kairi stepped forward, now only a few feet away from Sora. She held her Keyblade low with both hands, pointing it forward. Sora kept her Keyblade horizontal, preparing to defend himself. After a few seconds, Kairi lunged at Sora. With a smile, Sora stepped to the side and swung his Keyblade at Kairi's hip.

He was caught by surprised when Kairi went defensive and blocked his strike. A loud clang was heard, and they were caught in a lock. Sora pressed forward, trying to make Kairi back down.

A moment later, Sora broke the lock and swung at her legs. Kairi jumped over the Keyblade and landed on both feet. Sora swung downward at Kairi's legs again. She swung likewise, making contact with Sora's weapon. Sora forced her Keyblade upward, keeping the locked blades in front of Kairi's face. Then, with surprising strength, Kairi pushed Sora away from her.

Sora raised an eyebrow at Kairi's technique. She was getting the hang of fighting incredibly fast. What's more, he saw her chuckling, enjoying the thrill and the fun that this brought her. Sora smiled and lunged again. Kairi swung her Keyblade at his, pushing it down towards the ground and holding it there.

To finish the contest, Sora used his free hand to grab Kairi's Keyblade hand. He lifted her arm up above her head and kept it there while he held his own weapon to her neck.

"Looks like we have a winner!" Riku announced enthusiastically.

Sora smiled softly down at Kairi and let go of her arm before dismissing his Keyblade. Kairi's head drooped a little, her Keyblade vanishing. She had improved heavily that round, but she had still lost the fight. "Cheer up, Kairi. You did amazing!" Sora assured.

Kairi lifted her head, a small smile having been painted as it came up. "Really?" Sora and Riku nodded affirmatively. "Thanks!"

"We're going to work on training your senses next," Riku declared. He lifted himself up to the trunk of the paopu tree and watched expectantly. "We can't really teach you that, though. You have to learn to use your senses to figure out what's happening around you."

Kairi looked at them curiously. "So how am I going to practice that?"

"That's something you'll learn later, mostly in the heat of battle," Sora answered. "But for now, you need to figure out good fighting techniques. Find moves that are really in your comfort zone."

Summoning their Keyblades, the two went to work. Sora varied his strikes, making them come from several different directions. He kept up his offensive, forcing Kairi to defend against them. Over time, she adapted and started to move less awkwardly in response to his attacks.

Then Sora stepped back, coaxing Kairi to attack him. Once she got the hint, she repeated her learning process. This time, she devised which offensive moves suited her best, and eventually became more graceful with her fighting style.

It was roughly ten minutes of this fighting practice before they both stopped, taking slow breaths to regain some energy. Kairi sat cross-legged on the ground while Sora laid down, putting his hands behind his head. "You're really coming along, Kairi. Good job!"

"Yes, yes, good fight." Riku was clapping slowly, one clap every couple of seconds. "Bravo, you two."

"Don't be a smart ass," Kairi whined. "You have to admit I'm making good progress."

Riku laughed a little. "That's true. But you're running out of energy too quickly." He gestured a circle in the air with one of his hands. "Take a lap around this entire island," he ordered.

"What?" Sora and Kairi both cried out in protest.

"Come on, Riku!" Kairi complained. "Sora's not that muscular, and he can run just fine!"

"That doesn't really help, Kairi," Sora reminded with a small glare.

"Oh no, Sora," Riku said, about to correct him. "She has a very good point. You need some muscles, so you're running a lap too."

"You're joking," Sora said bitterly. "You've gotta be joking!"

"No jokes here," Riku promised. "You both need to get in shape, so get running." With a grumble, Sora and Kairi started off towards the beach to start their running. "And Sora?" He lifted his arm, flexing his muscle a bit. "Don't come back until you've got this."

With a small grumble, Sora followed Kairi through a door leading to a set of stairs. These took them down into the wooden shack on the beach. Coming out of that, they took their spots near that. They both crouched down a bit, preparing to run.

Kairi seemed to notice Sora's irritation. "Something wrong?"

Sora shook his head, clearing his face a little. "I just don't want to run."

"It was your idea, lazy bum!" Kairi giggled happily.

"Doesn't that chestnut get old for you?" Sora replied.

Kairi looked over at him sweetly. "Nope!"

"Enough with the chatter!" Riku called from the bridge. "Get running already!"

Sora glanced up at Riku, then faced Kairi again. "How about we make this a race, Kairi?" he asked, feeling competitive.

"Alright, you're on!" Kairi agreed. "What do you want if you win?"

Sora thought back to the previous day and what had come from Kairi tackling him to the ground. "I want you to agree that we won't have to go to the mall for a week."

"Aww, c'mon!" Kairi whined. But Sora stayed firm and she sighed. "Okay, fine. If I win you have to give me a piggy-back ride all the way back to the hangout spot from the other side of the island."

"Deal!" Sora agreed, eager to win.

They both took off at the same time. Sora saw his chance to redeem himself from the other day. He and Kairi ran side-by-side for the dock, where their race would continue. Sora had run around this place so many times already and had plenty of experience with the obstacles he would have to traverse.

* * *

Riku relaxed upon the paopu tree trunk, looking lazily at the sunset while he wait for Sora and Kairi to return. His head twitched when he heard a soft noise. He sat up and listened again. It was the sound of a boy panting. He snickered softly to himself and hopped off the trunk and turned around to see Sora coming up with Kairi on his back.

"Let me guess," he began. "You let her win again?"

"Nope!" Kairi declared. "I actually won!"

"If you hadn't pushed me into the ocean when we rounded this area, I would've been the winner," Sora complained

Kairi ruffled Sora's hair a bit. "Couldn't let you win, Sora. My time at the mall with you two is too much fun!"

She hopped off of Sora's back and walked over to the tree, climbing up to sit on the trunk. Sora and Riku looked to each other, then bowed their shaking heads. To them, a woman's need to shop was beyond their understanding.  
Sora sat at the base of the paopu tree, glancing up at Kairi briefly before looking back out to sea.

Riku, meanwhile, took a few steps towards the wooden bridge. "Sorry to leave, but I have to go spend 'quality time' with my younger sisters."

"You make such a big deal, Riku," Kairi chided. "They're not that bad."

Riku sent a cold stare towards Kairi. "Last time I checked, girls don't mind having their hair brushed, braided, and bunched up by their younger sisters. But in case it's not clear, I'm a _guy_!"

"He's right, Kairi," Sora agreed, standing up and leaning against the trunk. "They play with my hair almost as much. There's a different deformity to it every time I wake up at their house!"

Kairi nodded softly in understanding, but she was holding in laughter that burst free at that statement. "Awww, are the Keyblade warriors meeting their match to a couple of little girls?"

"Kairi!" Sora and Riku cried out at the same time.

"Relax, guys!" Kairi laughed as she spoke. "It's cute! Nothing wrong with that."

With another heavy sigh, Riku started to walk away. "Well, good night, guys. Be ready to leave at a decent hour."

After waving to Riku, the two turned their sights to the ocean again. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon. The once-blue ocean was now being reflected with a dim orange color, shadows being casted in many areas. The sky was the dim orange reflected in the ocean, and the cloud were now being becoming darker, illuminated all around with a flair of light.

Sora sighed softly and smiled. "This never gets old either, does it?"

He received no response from Kairi. Sora looked up at the trunk to see her sitting blankly. Her face was directed directly at the sunset. He stood up and took a closer look. She was breathing softly, but not moving. Her eyes were also closed.

She was falling asleep, tired from the strain of today's work. Sora attempted to turn his gaze back to the sunset, but he was interrupted when he felt something land softly against his shoulder.

Looking down, he saw a mass of red hair, which caused Sora to blush ever so slightly. Kairi had dozed off and accidentally leaned over onto his shoulder, resting there. Sora kept his eyes on her for a few moments. He didn't want to rudely awaken her, but he also couldn't simply wait for her to wake up, as it was getting late.

Left with few other options, Sora decided he could carry her. He'd just have to be gentle with his movements, and he could row her across the water. It wasn't that far across, and it hadn't taken him and Riku much time to get here. With care, Sora placed an arm beneath her legs, then one under her torso. He slowly stood up, and then he walked at a normal, steady pace. Looking back over to the dock, he remembered that Riku had already left. The only boat they had was now gone.

_Crud!_ Sora thought to himself. _Does Riku realize what my mom will- _His own thoughts cut off when he looked around, his gaze falling upon something that made him freeze. Resting close to shore beneath their hangout was a raft with a large, white sail. But it was no ordinary raft: it was the raft that the three of them had planned to use to visit other worlds, over a year ago.

With a steady smile, Sora walked down to the beach and made his way over. Stepping carefully up to the raft, he lifted a foot and pushed against the small piece of the island it rested beside. That was enough to get the raft's journey out to sea started, and the evening breeze caught the sails just right, doing the rest of the work for him. Sora smiled softly, readjusting his stance so he could hold Kairi steady.

He felt her stirring and thought she might wake up, but it wasn't what he expected. Instead, he felt Kairi reaching up and placing her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. Sora blushed a little bit from the gesture, but kept his hold on her as the raft floated.

Once it reached the shore, the raft immediately took a spot on the sand. It slid onto the beach and securely landed, leaving little fear of it accidentally floating away. Sora looked to his feet, admiring the craft. _Glad it didn't go to waste after all_, he thought. _I wonder where it would've taken us if we had been able to use it before_. He started along the dirt path, heading deeper into town to reach Kairi's house once again.

It took considerably longer to reach it, seeing how Sora was walking with Kairi in his arms rather than by his side. However, Sora kept face. He marched onward with total disregard to his muscles, not even sure if they were too tired.

Kairi continued to cling to Sora's neck to take some load off of his arms. She stirred a little more, smiling sweetly even in slumber. To get more comfortable, she nestled her head upon Sora's chest. Sora blushed softly from this gesture, and even more when he felt Kairi nuzzle against him.  
He grew very warm, but shook his head gently to get rid of the feeling. _No worries_, he reminded himself. _She probably just thinks I'm a pillow or something._

He continued to walk, arriving at her house a few minutes later. Kairi now slept peacefully in his arms. He carefully stepped onto her property, climbing carefully up the steps to her front door. He was unsure of how to open the front door, but that problem was solved when it opened for him. He heard a heavy clicking noise, that sound somewhat...no...iexactly/i like a gun being cocked.

_Crap! _Sora looked in between the open door and Kairi. _If her stepdad sees this...I'm screwed!_ He took a deep breath and looked back and forth, only to see a figure step out of the house. Sure enough, it was the mayor. "Uh...evening sir," Sora spoke quietly.

"Hello, Sora," he replied, his friendly tone less present. He took another step forward, revealing a large barreled weapon in his right hand, just slightly concealed. It was visible enough to where it worried Sora deeply. "What happened to Kairi?"

Sora gulped softly. "W-well she f-fell asleep. I didn't wanna wake her...s-so I carried her back...here?" As the mayor looked over him, Sora felt very uncertain. He couldn't tell at this point which direction this man's attitude was going to go in.

"Well, thank you, Sora." The mayor smiled and brought his gun into visibility, keeping the barrel pointing downard and leaning on it, somewhat like a walking stick. "That's very considerate of you."

Sora kept face on the outside, but he rejoiced in his thoughts. _I'm not going to die! Wahoo!_ He nodded briefly to the mayor before stepping up the rest of the steps leading to the door. "If I may ask, why the gun?"

"Oh, this thing?" The mayor held up the shotgun, pointing its barrel towards the sky. "This is my eight-seventy pump action shotgun. I use it for show, hunting game, and taking care of teenagers who carry around my unconscious daughter."

Sora's face went white for a moment. _Then I AM dead..._ he realized sadly. Before his worries fully kicked in, he heard a deep chuckle from the mayor.

"I'm joking with you, Sora!" He shook his head. "Did I not tell you today that I trust you with my daughter?" He gestured to the house with his head, nodding towards the doorway. "Go ahead and bring her to bed."

Sora nodded briefly and walked inside Kairi's house. Shortly after he reached the stairs, he quietly let out a sigh of relief he had been holding in. He slowly walked up the stairs to Kairi's room, edging through the barely-open door. The room was decorated with purple walls with various sea shells hung up on them. Upon her dresser next to her queen-sized bed, the star-shaped good luck charm he had grown so familiar with. Sora spared a small smile before he stepped away, laying Kairi's body across her bed. He gently pried Kairi's hands away from his neck and stood up to drape the covers over her. Kairi moved around a bit, confused at the change of sleeping position, but succumbed to the soft blankets quickly.

Sora smiled as he watched her stretch her body beneath the covers, pulling them over herself. "Good night, Kairi," he whispered softly before he quietly exited the room and closed the door. He stepped down the hallway and stairs just as cautiously as before, making an even more quiet exit out of her house. A bit more casually, he walked back down the porch steps

He spotted the mayor standing next to his car. It appeared to be a fairly old model, but it shined liked it was brand new. It was then that he noticed the mayor wiping his hands off on his shirt, which was already fairly greasy. Sora hadn't noticed the marks in the light of the gun the mayor was holding only a few minutes ago.

"It's a beauty, isn't she?" Sora nodded, bringing a small nod from the mayor. "Yeah, she is. I've had her for a long time, but I'm keeping her going." His tone changed slightly after that, becoming a little more serious. "So you guys are headed off tomorrow right?" Sora nodded once again. "Yeah, Kairi told me." He walked over to a work bench, where most of his tools rested, and he sat down on a tall stool. "Sora, I still don't really understand what's going on out there...wherever it is that you're going. But that's not what matters to me." He looked over to Sora, his dark brown eyes meeting Sora's bright blue ones. "I want you to make me a promise, Sora."

Sora stepped closer, leaning against the hood of the car. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, two promises now," the mayor corrected himself. "The first will be to stop leaning on the car I just finished cleaning." Sora practically jumped away from the car upon hearing this. "Sora, I know that we're only her step-parents...but Kairi is very dear to me and my wife. I want you to promise to protect her while you're out there."

"I...I..." Sora was surprised to hear this, and yet not as much. This man and his wife had been a parent to her since she arrived on the islands, so it would be natural for him to care about her. Yet Sora couldn't help but notice how similar he felt. He wouldn't ever want anything bad happening to Kairi. "Of course, sir. Always."

"Glad to hear it, Sora." The mayor arose from his stool. "Because I'll have to kill you if you fail." After a dark moment of silence, he started to laugh. Sora joined in the laughter after a few seconds, but then the mayor snapped back into seriousness. "That isn't a joke."

Sora stopped his laughter and nodded. "I know..." He backed away from the mayor slowly, then turned to walk away. Before he left, Sora faced the man again and smiled. "We'll keep her safe, sir. I promise."

"I believe it's true." The mayor nodded firmly in approval. "Good night, Sora, and good luck."

Sora left Kairi's house and began to progress back towards his own. It was darker outside now, but not hard to navigate. A cold breeze hit after he had progressed down the path for a while, causing Sora to hug himself a bit for warmth. Thankfully, his house was only a few steps beyond that point. Sora opened the door quietly and entered, letting minimal air into the warm house. Closing it, he walked towards the stairs of his house.

Passing through the living room, Sora spotted his mother on the couch. She had fallen asleep there, curled up slightly and hugging a pillow. Sora chuckled a bit, then he took a blanket draped over the back of the couch and covered up his mother's body with it.

"Good night, Mom," he whispered solemnly. "I know you're going to miss me...I'll miss you too." He leaned down and kissed her upon the forehead. "If I'm gone before you wake up...just know that I love you, okay?" Even though his mom slept while he spoke, Sora liked to think that she heard him. With a satisfied nod, he walked back to the stairs and climbed them slowly. Once he reached the top, he immediately turned into the first room on the right. He slipped off his shoes and laid on the bed. Then next moment, his phone began to vibrate. "Huh?" He held it up. "Who's calling me this late?" He flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"_You carried her home, didn't you?_" He heard a distinct chuckle on the other end of the line, and he recognized that voice immediately. "_I knew you would._"

Sora inhaled deeply, exhaling angrily at Riku as he spoke. "Riku..." Then it hit him. "You took the boat early on purpose, didn't you? _You _left the raft there!"

"_You're honestly surprised?_" Riku laughed a bit more, then sighed as his enjoyment wore off a bit. "_Relax, Sora. I just want to know if you're prepared for tomorrow._"

Sora sighed heavily, blushing a little bit on his face, but he nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"_Alright, then,_" Riku answered. "I_'ll let you sleep now. See you tomorrow._" Sora chuckled softly, eliciting confusion from Riku. "_What is it?_"

"I knew you would say that," Sora replied smugly. He heard a small groan from Riku on the other end before his friend hung up. Sora closed his phone and set it on top of his night stand. It hadn't changed much since he left the island...it hadn't changed at all, minus the fact that his room was a lot cleaner since his mom had done work on it to prepare for his eventual return.

The slightly more kiddish scenery of seashells, ocean wallpaper, and a mobile his mom had clung to stubbornly from his early childhood, remained as well. Despite how ridiculous it was, Sora already missed this sight, knowing he would have to leave it a second time for a brand new journey.

Though fearful of what he might face, Sora was determined to go up against whatever would stand against him. What's more, he would win. The universe needed him, and as Sora drifted off to sleep, he promised himself that peace would return one day.


	3. Prophecy Revelation

When he finally awoke, the sun shone brightly through cracks in the blinds . Sora rubbed his eyes and sat up. Sleepily, he picked up his phone, which rested on his nightstand. Looking at the time, it was nearly eight o'clock in the morning. Sora took a few deep breaths, then rose to his feet. He knew that today was the day he would be departing once again.

His insides were conflicted. He didn't want to leave his mother or his friends, and he didn't want Riku and Kairi to have to do the same for this journey. He was enjoying his time back at home, relaxing with his friends and enjoying himself, just like old times. But after that dream, when he saw was happening to innocent people, he couldn't, and wouldn't, sit by and let it happen. His leisure was an easy sacrifice to make in favor of saving these people's lives.

Sora got up and adorned himself in his clothes once again. The black garments that covered his upper arms and legs, as well as his torso fit perfectly. It hadn't been too long since his adventure, of course. Zippers, pockets, and other attachments of fabric adorned the clothes. The final part of his outfit, one he'd worn for years, was placed upon him last: his crown necklace that he'd had for so many years.

Sora opened his door and began to walk down his stairs. Slowly, it was dawning on him that he would have to leave here and not return for some time, maybe even longer than his previous journey. The fact that he was able to say good-bye this time should comfort him, but somehow it made the departure seem even harder.

Sora could see his mom sitting on the couch, fingering a small book, homemade by the looks of it. She sighed deeply as she looked over it, then carefully opened it up. Her son soon was made aware of the title of the book. Etched in a careful, delicate handwriting on the front was a single word.

_Memories_.

The book containing pictures of his childhood is what his mom had taken out to look at. She stared at a photograph a few pages in. In it, Sora was ten years old. Riku and Kairi were working together, each putting Sora in a headlock with one of their arms. The three friends were all laughing in the picture, with Sora struggling to get out, Riku wearing a confident look upon his face, and Kairi holding up a peace sign using her index and middle finger on her free hand.

Sora smiled softly, then quietly stepped down the stairs and walked over to his mother. She didn't even see him coming, even as he sat down beside her. She was lost in thought while looking at the picture.

"Mom?" Sora asked, getting her attention at last. "You okay?"

His mother nodded. "You always used to say you would travel to other worlds someday." She closed the book with a small smile. "It was so adorable to see you dreaming big, but I never knew that this is what fate had in store for you."

Sora put his arm around his mother, trying to comfort her before she grew worried again. "I'll be fine, Mom." Sora got to his feet, his mother following suit. "There are people out there who are in danger." He started to walk towards his door. His mother followed him, keeping her hand upon his shoulder the whole way.

Sora opened up the door, giving way to daylight. "They need my help," he said. He turned around and hugged his mother, who tightly embraced him in return. "I'll be back, Mom. I promise."

Despite how much she wanted to cry, Sora could feel his mother holding back her sadness in favor of her pride. "Good-bye, Sora." She kissed his forehead gently and ruffled his spiky hair a bit. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Sora replied, hugging her more tightly. "And I'll write, I promise."

"See that you do," she nodded. Knowing she wouldn't let him leave if she let him stay longer, his mother released Sora from her arms. Slowly, Sora did the same and walked away. His mother's hand lingered on his shoulder as far as she could reach before it slipped off.

Sora reached the path and walked on his way towards the beach. With every passing second he found himself walking a little faster. Soon, he was jogging a bit. Finally, he broke into a run. The breeze blew around him as he moved across the island for his destination

* * *

Riku sat up from his slumber and stretched his arms out in the air. He rubbed his eyes and swiveled to the right, getting to his feet. He zipped up his black shirt to start off, followed by his baggy jeans with very deep pockets. He slipped a wristband on over his left hand and then draped his vest, lined in yellow and black, around his shoulders.

He opened his door and walked down the hall that led to his living room. He could see over the edge of the couch that his two sisters, twelve year-old Rikia and ten year-old Avera, were watching television. The kitchen was over a nearby counter, behind which his mom sipped a cup of tea. Riku leaned over the counter, facing her.

"Dad still asleep?" She nodded silently in return. Riku sighed a bit. "I have to be on my way, Mom."

His mother set down her tea, nodding slowly in understanding. She walked from the kitchen around the corner to the other side of the counter to where her son was. Riku spread his arms and hugged his mother, who tightly embraced him back. "Hurry back," she urged gently. She chuckled a bit. "You've missed enough school as it is."

Riku couldn't help but smile at the way his mom was attempting to break the ice. "School is overrated compared to saving the universe," he claimed jokingly. He let go of his mother, then walked over to the living room. His sisters responded immediately, rolling off of the couch and running over. Riku got down, kneeling upright before the two girls. "You take care of Mom and Dad for me, alright? That means don't drive them too crazy while I'm gone. Promise?"

"We promise, bro!" Rikia replied sweetly.

"We'll be angels while you're gone!" Avera agreed.

"Just like you were the first time, I'm sure?" Riku chuckled. He held out his arms, and both of his sisters hugged him tightly. He repaid them with a hug as well. "So long, squirts. I'll see you when I get back."

As he arose from hugging his sisters, Riku could hear a few footsteps, slightly heavier than the ones of his mother and sisters. Turning around, Riku could see a man, fully dressed. The two had a few similarities, namely their hair. The hair of the man before him was a darker shade of silver, and his frame was lean, but sturdy.

Riku stood upright, looking his father in the eyes. "Morning, Dad."

The man gave a quick nod to Riku. "Morning." He looked to his wife, and then over at his daughters before turning his eyes back to his son. "You on your way?" Riku nodded to his father. With a brief nod, his father held out his hand. Riku firmly shook it, and then the two pulled each other in for a one-armed hug. "Good luck, son."

Riku pulled away from his father after a few moments, then turned around and opened up the door. He stepped out and gently closed it behind him, not looking directly back at his family. They were hiding their emotions well, but Riku could tell that they were sad about his leaving. He didn't want to see those sad faces, or even think about them.

Riku clenched his fist, which trembled a bit. He had to keep his own emotions in check as well. Great things were at stake, and he couldn't afford to have any doubts about leaving.

* * *

Kairi's eye's opened up as her phone's alarm went off. She lazily grabbed the phone and shut off the beeping alarm. She gently pushed the covers off of herself and sat up. She got off of her bed. She stepped in front of a mirror and brushed her hair, as she did every morning. The key difference in today was the silence.

Stepping into her closet, she began to dress herself in her normal clothes. The first garment was a white underdress that went down to her knees. Her next article of clothing was a pink shirt that went down below her knees. It had a zipper on the front and a small black belt with a black bag hanging off the side of the belt.

Kairi took one look in the mirror and saw her reflection for several seconds. She looked satisfactory, for her everyday needs. When she returned home, she promised she would look in this mirror as a new woman, a formidable Warrior Princess of Heart. With a smile and nod to her reflection, she turned away from the mirror and stepped out of her door, closing it behind her. She climbed down the stairs one at a time for a bit, then hopped down the remaining five to the floor, crouching her body as she landed.

She expected somebody to come running at the noise, but nobody came. She peered around the house, looking for her step-parents. They were not in the living room or the kitchen. They weren't in sight until she looked out the window that showed a view of the front porch. Her step-mother sat in one chair and held onto her step-father's hand while he sat across from her. Kairi smiled, watching her guardians with love in her eyes, then walked away from the window, opening up the door and stepping out onto the porch.

Her step-mother spotted her first. She did not release her husband's hand, but she nodded to Kairi, smilng. "Sleep well, hon?"

"Uh-huh," Kairi answered. "I'm surprised I could, though." She stepped forward, and her step-mother rose to her feet. Kairi had grown a lot in the past year, and was now nearly as tall as her step-mother. She threw her arms around her guardian. "I'll miss you, Mom." She looked over to her other guardian. "You too, Dad."

Her step-father smiled and got up. He walked over and patted Kairi on the head a few times. "We're going to miss you too, sweetie."

"Be strong, Kairi," her step-mother urged, releasing Kairi from the hug. "I trust that your two boys will take care of you." She chuckled a little at the blush drawn from Kairi from the statement.

"But don't let them do anything funny," her step-father warned. "If they piss you off, I have two words for you: pepper spray."

Kairi's blush vanished, and now she was laughing as well. "I'll be fine, Dad," she replied. "Besides, they wouldn't do that. They're lost without me!"

Kairi stepped away from her parents, turning away and stepping off the porch and climbing down to the dirt roads. She turned back slightly as she walked, waving back to her parents. They waved back, still holding each other's hands. Kairi turned away again, heading down to the beach. Absent-mindedly, she held up her right hand to her side. Moments later, a flash of light sprouted in her hand. When it vanished, she held _Floral Fragrance_, the flowery Keyblade that Riku had given to her.

As she headed closer to the beach, it began to dawn on her more how she was now at a higher level of responsibility over the worlds. She was now a Keybearer, in charge of keeping the worlds safe, but she was also a Princess of Heart. She had to keep herself safe so that she was not abducted again to utilize Kingdom Hearts.  
Kairi stepped into her boat gently, then untied it. Placing the rope inside the boat, she used her Keyblade to push the vessel away from shore, heading towards the island with paopu trees.

Kairi dismissed her Keyblade after she was set on her course. She picked up the paddle in the boat and began pushing herself along. With each stroke, she made it closer and closer to the island. Before long, she could see the island clearly. By the docks, she could see a figure that she soon picked out to be Riku tying up his boat, having just arrived. "Riku!" she stopped paddling for a brief moment, waving to her silver-haired friend.

Almost at once, Riku spotted her and waved back. "Hey, Kairi!"

Kairi kept rowing, quickening her pace a little bit. Once she was within close enough distance, she put down the paddle, letting the boat float there on its own. She took up the small bunch of rope and tossed it up to Riku. As she climbed up onto the dock, Riku tied her boat to the post next to his own.

"Is Sora here yet?" Kairi asked.

"Not yet," Riku replied. "I'm sure he'll be along in a little bit. He told us to meet him by the trees."

He led Kairi across the beach and up the ramp, leading to the wooden bridge. The sun hadn't quite risen on the other side of the island, but it was casting a slightly illuminated shadow across the entire thing. As they stepped across, they looked out to the glowing horizon, which had a purple tint to it from the odd angle of the sun.

"So now we wait," Riku affirmed. But it was not even two seconds before they could hear footsteps coming across the sand. Looking over, they could see Sora crossing the beach, waving to them as soon as they had been made aware of his presence. His pace didn't change and he walked just as casually up the ramp and across the bridge to stand beside the trees, looking out to the ocean with his friends.

"You didn't seem in much of a rush," Riku observed.

Sora shrugged. "Guess I just want to take this in for as long as I can before we have to go." He took a slow, deep breath. These would be his last moments on the island for what he expected to be a very long time. When he exhaled, energy came to him and he held up his arm. Within his hand, the Keyblade appeared momentarily.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Kairi tilted her head in confusion.

"The letter said to hold out my Keyblade towards the sun and something special will happen." Sora proceeded and pointed his Keyblade at the sun. Sora then closed his eyes and waited. Kairi and Riku watched for a few moments, waiting for something to happen. However, nothing seemed to be coming.

Sora opened up his eyes. "Uh..." He was about ready to give up, looking to Riku and Kairi in confusion. Only a second later did a bright blue light appeared at the tip of his Keyblade, glowing like a beacon.

_WHOOSH_

In response to the whoosh, the three teenagers stumbled back. They looked into the sky and were able to barely make out a colored speck above them.

"Is that it?" Riku asked aloud, pointing up at the sky. From the clouds, a large orange craft emerged that roughly equaled twice the size of the small patch of island that the three friends were standing on.

Sora smiled. "It's the Gummi Ship!" he declared. Sure enough, his familiar vessel descended from the sky, hovering just beside the island above the water. The door popped open and Sora took the entrance immediately, leaping in. "Donald! Goofy!" he cried excitedly. "Hey- huh?" To his disappointment, the ship was vacant and running on autopilot. "Oh..."

"Sora, this is amazing!" Turning, Sora saw Kairi getting up from a crouched position, having jumped onto the ship after him. She ran excitedly to one of the co-pilot chairs. "You actually get to fly this thing to all these worlds?"

Sora nodded, taking his spot in the pilot seat. "Yeah. It's a great ship. Been flying it since I got the Keyblade." Sora sat in the pilot chair, spinning it to face forward.

Riku sat in the other passenger chair. "Donald and Goofy aren't here?"

"Nope..." Sora began solemnly. "They're probably just staying with the King for now. Besides, they can trust us. I fly this thing like a pro!" Confidently, Sora pressed a button.

"_Missile launch initiated,_" a voice from the speaker said.

Sora's eyes widened briefly. "Oops. Sorry guys!" He quickly pressed another button.

"_Second missle launch initiated_," the voice said again.

"Ah!" Sora nervously pressed another button.

"_Self-Destruct sequence initiated._"

"Sora!" Riku shouted.

"AAGH!" Sora growled. "Why is there a Self-Destruct button?" He pounded the panel angrily.

"_All orders canceled._"

Sora sighed deeply in relief. "Whew...that was close!" Turning around, Sora could see Kairi with a very wide-eyed expression and Riku with a harsh glare on his face. "Well, uh...hehe..." Sora chuckled nervously. "That was fun! Time to fly!" Sora pressed down on a green button on the dash panel. The ship's gears shifted, giving manual control of the ship to Sora. He grabbed the two joysticks that connected to the steering mechanism. Pulling them back gently, he caused the ship to rise into the air and ascend into the sky.

Kairi pressed her face against the window looking out to see how everything looked. The surrounding air was becoming darker as they rose higher and a slight shift in turbulence that made her stumble a couple steps told her that the islands were soon going to be far behind them. Now surrounded by space, a dark violet spread of sky with several twinkling stars. Her eyes sparkled in somewhat of a reflection of the awe she felt while looking upon these surroundings.

"This is so beautiful..." she gasped in happiness.

Sora smiled. "Glad you think so because you'll get to see it a lot." He pressed some buttons to turn on the auto-pilot function and reset the coordinates for Disney Castle.

"What do you guys think is happening?" Riku asked aloud. His face contorted a little bit in anger. "Maleficent's not down for the count, so she'll be in the picture...for now."

"No argument there," Kairi answered. "If she came back once, who's to say that she won't just get resurrected again when we defeat her?"

"We can take her, guys. You know that," Sora assured with a small smile. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep this face for too long. "But..." He turned to face Riku. "I do know what's happening. I don't know who they are, but I know what they're doing."

"How?" Riku asked, a bit surprised.

Over the next few minutes, Sora told them everything. He spoke of the vision he had where he saw people getting sucked into the strange fog. He told them of the new enemies that seemed to have elemental weaknesses, of Vincent Valentine, and the warning he had been given. Silence followed his explanation.

Then Riku spoke.

"So you're saying that we have the Heartless and Nobodies to contend with already and now we have to fight an enemy that comes from fog?" Riku shook his head. "I swear these things keep getting weirder..."

"That's horrible..." Kairi said sadly. "All those people..." She looked up at Sora hopefully. "Was it just a vision?"

"I hope so," Sora answered. "If it was just showing me what could happen if we do nothing, then that vision was telling me what I need to do in order to beat them."

No further words were spoken between the trio for some time. Sora and Kairi merely watched to the front of the ship, watching the universe rush by them. Riku lounged in his chair, taking out some headphones and listening to music as he passed the time.

Twenty minutes passed and both Kairi and Riku had fallen asleep after relaxing. Sora forced himself to be awake and alert in case of danger. It was unfortunate that, in his most alert state, the dream kept coming back to him. The horrors had been so unbearable the first time to witness. The images flashed repeatedly in his mind, terrorizing Sora's mind as he stared ahead.

Tearing his gaze away, his eyes fell upon Kairi. She was sitting in the chair with her eyes closed and head tilted back. Seeing such a gentle sight instantly cleared his mind of terrible thoughts. He walked to the back of the cockpit and opened up a cabinet. He pulled out two blankets and carried them over. He placed the first blanket over Kairi, who shifted under the sudden warmth and pulled the blanket over herself, smiling a bit. He tossed the second one over Riku, covering his friend's head. Riku seemed too relaxed to care, not even reacting to the blanket coming over him.

Snickering at his work, Sora returned to his pilot chair. Absentmindedly, he put his hand into his pocket. Feeling a familiar article inside caught his attention. He pulled out the rolled-up piece of paper. Without a word, he unrolled it and re-read the writing on the paper. It was the letter that Mickey had sent them.

_Sora,_

I hate to call ya on such short notice, but this is an emergency. The worlds are in danger again. I know you just got home and all, but there is something powerful that's on the rise. Something darker, stronger, and unknown is beginning to spread, threatening us. Come to Disney Castle as soon as possible. Riku should come along. Kairi too, if she doesn't mind.

Your pal, Mickey

P.S. When you preparing to leave, stick you keyblade towards the sun. Something special will happen.

Then it was gently rolled up and Sora placed it back in his pocket. He sat back in his chair and looked out the viewport. The stars that passed him by reminded him of the large amount of worlds beyond his own. That was the one thing about his journey he liked: it took him to many exciting places and rewarded him with many great friends.  
Despite getting up early, Sora knew he had to stay awake. It was not very hard for him either, as he was excited to see his friends again. He hadn't seen Donald or Goofy since he had arrived back on the islands and was very much looking forward to seeing them again.

"_Approaching Destination,_" the computer voice stated. It was nearly pointless, however. Sora had seen the castle coming up nearly ten seconds before the computer had announced it. Sora turned around just in time to see his two friends awakening. Kairi stretched her arms in a loud yawn and Riku lazily pushed the blanket off of him.

"Nice hair," Sora commented, looking at Kairi with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Kairi felt her hair and instantly noticed it had been ruffled by her nap. "Aw, man!" Almost at once, she was wide awake and throwing off her blanket, heading to the back of the ship. She pulled a brush from her back and began a rushed attempt to set her hair in order. All the while, Sora and Riku were laughing.

The Gummi Ship maneuvered just below the castle. It steadied itself for a moment before receiving a slight magnetic tug, causing it to rise up through a passage leading to the garage in the castle. Once they had risen all the way, its landing gears automatically sprouted and brought the ship to a gentle landing.

Sora rushed to the door and pressed a hand-sized rectangular button. The ship made a loud hissing noise as the stairs leading out of the ship were lowered like a ramp. Sora stepped down them quickly and got to the floor. "Guys?" he called. "Donald? Goofy?" Nobody responded, nor did anybody seem to be present. "Your Majesty?"

"Relax, Sora." Sora turned, seeing Riku headed down the stairs, followed by Kairi. "They can't be far from here."

"You're right." Sora nodded and began to walk. "Let's try the throne room."

Kairi followed closely behind the pair, taking enough time to get a glimpse of everything interesting in the room. The garage, full of gears and convoluted design, fascinated her already. "I still can't believe you got to see stuff like this, Sora!"

Sora laughed as he led them out of the garage. "Well, come on, Kairi. Riku got his fair share of action too."

"Don't compare me in this." Riku crossed his arms with a smirk. "Portals travel faster than a ship. What's more, I'm not the one who was sleeping for a year."

Sora placed his hands on the green door at the end of the passage. "I don't know why I was sleeping," he protested. "And nobody seems interested in telling me about it."

"Believe me, it's better you didn't know," Riku promised.

With a sigh, Sora gave in. He pushed on the green door and it flew open slowly. The sun shone brightly and the trio was forced to cover their eyes for a moment to prevent themselves from being blinded by the light. When the sudden exposure wore off for them, they moved their arms aside. While Riku and Kairi marveled at their first sight of the castle gardens, Sora merely took a moment to gaze upon them without the fear of having to fight Heartless here.

"Wow," Kairi gasped. "This is amazing!"

"Are you going to say that every time we see something new?" Riku joked, earning him a quick elbow to the arm from his friend. "Whoa, Kairi!" Riku snickered. "Getting violent, are we?" Kairi elbowed the same spot. "Ow!"

"Stop ruining the moment, Riku!" Kairi spoke firmly, but couldn't seem to keep a hint of laughter free from her voice.

The garden had a view of the sky directly above it. The whole area was surrounded by three of the tall castle walls, at least a hundred feet, with pillars in each corner supporting it. Sora walked along the path of the garden with his friends following. They slowed momentarily to admire the hedges trimmed to the likeness of a pig in a uniform, a dog, and one in the center of the garden that was carved in the likeness of the castle itself. Lining each patch of grass beneath the hedges were a variety of colored flowers.

At the end of the path awaited a door with a star on it. Sora opened it up and started up a red staircase. The hallway it led up to was consistent with the incredibly tall walls and pillars. Red carpet lined the floor and gold trim lined near the edges of the carpet.

Their walk took them halfway down the hallway. Right at the middle were a set of doors leading into the throne room. They towered only slightly less than the door did. Sora stepped up to it, pointing his Keyblade at the large door. A blue line of light zoomed from the blade and came into contact with the door. The smaller door that was magically concealed showed itself and opened up.

The throne room was long and large like the hallway, but it was much grander than that. There were pillars on the walls, like the ones in the garden and hallway. A carpet more elegant than the one in the hallway led up to two thrones, where they could see two short figures standing next to them.

"Your Majesties!" Sora shouted, rushing forward. Riku and Kairi ran swiftly behind him, trying to catch up.

The figures responded at once, darting across the room to meet them halfway. "Sora!" Mickey yelled out. "I'm glad you made it!" He nodded to the other two teenagers. "And you brought Riku and Kairi. That's great!" He took a short breath before he began to speak. "Now that you're here-"

"Your Majesty?" Sora interrupted. "Sorry, but Donald and Goofy weren't on the Gummi Ship. Do you know where they are?" Sora knew he had to confirm if his fears were true, but he instantly regretted this notion when he saw Mickey and Minnie's heads lower slightly. Their eyes drooped and their mouths curved downward. Sora's face followed a similar pattern. He knelt before the two mice. "Are they okay?"

Mickey couldn't wipe the gloomy look from his face. "Sora...I sent them out to investigate when the trouble first started. This mission was for two days. They've been gone for almost two weeks. I haven't been able to contact them."

Sora gasped. For a few moments, he couldn't even comprehend the possibilities of what might've happened to them. He bowed his head. "This can't be happening..." He forced himself to look at Mickey again. "Why didn't you try to go and find them yourself?"

Minnie moved forward as the next one to answer. "On the night we were going to leave, we looked up at the sky. That world's star was shining in the sky as usual...but then it suddenly vanished."

Sora was trying his hardest to hold himself together. The worst part was not knowing what had happened to them. Were they dead? Alive? Captured? Lost to darkness? The uncertainty bothered him most of all.

The room was completely silent before Riku spoke up. "How is Daisy?"

"Not well," Minnie answered. "She was very saddened by the news."

Sora silently stood up, keeping his head bent low. _What if they were swallowed by darkness, just like the people in my vision?_ he thought. _This is just unreal...it can't be happening. I won't believe it until I find the truth for myself._ He shook his head to clear himself up, however little it actually worked. "We'll find them, your Majesty. I promise."

Mickey's frown disappeared and he smiled only a little bit, just to reassure Sora. "I promise too. I'm not gonna give up on my best friends."

"Right!" Sora declared. "We'll bring them back here before you know it!"

"Your Majesty?" Kairi spoke up softly. "Can you tell us why you've called us here?"

Mickey nodded. "There've been stars blinking out. That can only mean that worlds are getting swallowed by darkness again. Only this time, it's something worse."

"I know," Sora answered. "I saw it."

"You did?" Mickey jumped in surprise. "Oh my gosh!"

"No, no!" Sora corrected immediately. "Not in person. It didn't happen to the islands, either."

"Oh..." Mickey took a short breath. "Thank goodness. But how did you see it, then?"

Sora quickly explained the current situation to Mickey. His entire vision was divulged in detail to him and his wife.

"...and the source seems to be that fog," Sora finished.

Mickey nodded to show his understanding and put his hand under his chin in thought. "Hmm..."

Sora tilted his head. "Your Majesty?"

Mickey lifted his head again, thought not from Sora's questioning statement. "In this dream...did this Vincent mention the Elements?" he asked.

Sora's eyes flared briefly. He nodded in confirmation. This elicited a quick gasp from both Mickey and Minnie.

"What does this mean?" Riku asked. "What are the Elements?"

Mickey placed two fingers to his mouth and whistled. Footsteps were heard almost immediately and they were going quickly. From behind the throne, Pluto emerged and darted across the room, carrying a book in his mouth.

"Pluto!" Kairi was nearly squealing when she saw the dog approaching. Pluto seemed excited as well, for he quickened his pace. Dropping the book quickly by Mickey, the dog skidding to a stop before Kairi and barked happily. She giggled and began to pet his head. "Aw, good boy!"

Mickey opened up the book and flipped through multiple pages. He went back and forth through the book until he found the spot he was looking for. He slapped his hand down on the page that he found. "So the prophecy is happening now..."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Sora asked him curiously

"The Elements," Mickey repeated. "According to the prophecy, three Keybearers will soon appear who wield powers of nature. They are lightning, fire, and ice." He turned the book so that everybody could see it. "If these three were led down the wrong path, it would be a catastrophe for the worlds." The three curiously stared upon the symbols of the three elements that were etched next to a drawing of three unique Keyblades that were carved in the guise of that element. Below, there was some scrawled handwriting.

_Fires, blizzards, and lightning storms  
Elements of nature in human form  
In path of light, peace then conveyed  
On road of darkness, drowned in shade_

Kairi was the first to look away. "So are you telling me that if these Keybearers were turned to darkness, there'd be no stopping them?"

"I don't think so," Mickey answered. "I want to save them from darkness if we can. But if they're new Keybearers, we can take them on if we have to."

"So where do we start looking?" Riku asked.

"Radiant Garden," Mickey replied. "That seems as good a place to start as any. Look for signs of the elements. A storm, a disturbance, or anything else you can find."

"Hello?" This new voice signaled another presence in the room. They turned their heads and stood up to see Daisy stepping smoothly across the floor towards the group. She stopped before the Keybearers and looked up at Sora.

Sora took a knee before Daisy and spoke to her. "I'm glad to see you, Daisy."

Daisy reached her hand and patted Sora on the head. "I'm very glad to see you, Sora." She removed her hand and looked to Riku and Kairi. "And this must be Riku and Kairi. Mickey has told me all about you."

"Hear anything bad?" Riku asked. Daisy shook her head, giving Riku a chuckle. "Then he hasn't quite told you _everything_."

Daisy giggled a bit as well before she addressed Kairi. "You're Kairi?" she asked. She smiled up at her a bit. "You are quite a beautiful young lady."

Kairi bent over to see Daisy at eye-level. "Thank you!" she replied, flattered.

Daisy looked to Minnie and asked aloud. "So this is the one, Minnie?"

"Yes," Minnie confirmed. "This is the one Sora always talks about."

"Huh?" Kairi turned to Sora. "You always talk about me?"

Sora stepped away a bit to try and conceal his reddening face. "Well...sometimes, yeah. But I talk about Riku a lot too!"

"Perhaps, but I hear such praise about Kairi," assured Minnie. Kairi's cheeks were beginning to darknen with a red tint as well.

Sora shook his head wildly, as did Kairi, to get rid of the feeling that had suddenly overcome them. "We're not going to waste more time. Let's get out there and find the Elements."

Kairi and Riku nodded in agreement. The three spared a quick bow to the three figures of royalty before turning and running back at the door, on course for the Gummi ship garage. Sora was briefly halted when Daisy's feathered hand took hold of his hand.

"Sora..." She pulled him down to her level. Her eyes feigned confidence, but Sora could see the hint of sadness within them. "Please bring Donald back."

Sora smiled at her and nodded. "I'd never say no to that," he assured. "I'll bring him back. And Goofy too." Daisy smiled and let Sora go. Sora rose once again and sprinted for the door. The fate of universe lay before him once again, and he would make sure that peace, and his friends, would return.


	4. Garden Thunderstorm

The three teenagers sat inside the Gummi Ship as it flew through the empty space on autopilot. Sora sat in his chair, eyes glued to the floor. Kairi's arm was around his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Sora was usually optimistic and she expected him to have positive thoughts about this, like he usually did. The difference of this situation was that his positive nature came greatly from Donald and Goofy. How could he cheer up when the ones who gave him that optimism were missing?

Kairi shook Sora gently to get his attention. "Those two are very strong, Sora. If anything bad had happened to them, they'd know how to handle it."

"Thanks..." Sora replied with a weak smile. "I'll try to cheer up, but I won't be able to rest until I know what happened to them." He flexed his fingers placing his right palm down on his lap. It reminded him of when he and his two missing friends would circle around and form their hands in the center of that circle. _All for one and one for all_, he sounded in his mind.

Riku stepped casually over beside his friends. "We're almost there," he announced.

Sora was out of his seat almost immediately. He peered out the window, trying to get a glimpse of Radiant Garden. If anything could illuminate him in such a time, seeing his friends in this world could be exactly what he needed.

"_Approaching destination_," the ship's computer informed, though it was unnecessary. As the trio stood, they could easily see it through the windshield on their ship. Looking out the windshield, they saw Radiant Garden, a place that had been home to many of Sora's old friends before Maleficent had conquered it. Now they had taken it back and it was looking to be in very good shape so far.

Sora remembered the time where he had been the 'key' that Donald and Goofy needed to find, while at the same time Mickey had been nowhere to be found. Now the roles had been changed up. Sora was the one searching, these people known as the Elements were now the 'key', and Donald and Goofy were now missing in action. Sora took his new role seriously and would not give up until he had found all of them and saved the universe once again.

The ship rumbled a little bit as it entered the world's atmosphere, starting its landing sequence. Many clouds passed directly over the ship as it gently took itself down. When land had revealed itself, the three Keybearers could see that a landing platform had been established near the outskirts of the town. The trio walked towards the door in preparation.

The landing area was not elaborate, instead just an open space designated with a sign. The ship whirred for a bit until it was quite, setting down gently upon the ground. Once the ramp was done, Sora stepped outside and headed for the entrance to town, Riku and Kairi following. He spotted shops he had used before, such as the items shop, but now it had expanded. A few residents of Radiant Garden were walking the town in the area and a few more shops had been set up. Sora spotted one in particular, a shop that had a large ornament in the likeness of sea-salt ice cream.

"Hey!" Sora called. He picked up the pace, running towards the shop. He had spotted a familiar figure in front of it whom he knew was the owner: Scrooge McDuck was standing proudly in front of the shop, eyeing the shop with great pride. Sora ran faster. "Scrooge!"

Scrooge stopped licking his ice cream to look, jumping up in surprise. "Sora, me lad!" He waved as Sora and his friends ran up to him. "Nice to be seeing you, again!"

"Great to see you too, Scrooge!" Sora greeted. Scrooge nodded, then looked up at Sora. His head tilted to the right and the left, looking upon Riku and Kairi. "Oh, right!" Sora held his hand out before them. "These are my friends, Riku and Kairi. Guys, this is Scrooge McDuck."

Riku nodded, reaching down to shake Scrooge's hand. "Hey there."

Kairi crouched a little to make better eye contact with him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. McDuck."

"The pleasure be all mine, lass," Scrooge replied, holding out his hand for her. She held out her own and they shook. "It is an honor to meet a Princess of Heart such as yourself."

"So you finally got your ice cream shop up?" Sora observed, pointing to the vendor.

"That I did, my boy!" Scrooge declared proudly. "After perfecting the recipe, I knew I had to get on the market quick!" He stood on the toes of his webbed feet. "Any chance you three would like to be my first customers?"

"I like the sound of that," Riku replied. "How much?"

Without another word, Scrooge hopped into the air and vaulted in through the window of the vender, going behind the counter and digging beneath the counter. A moment later, he came out with three sea-salt ice cream bars. "Here you are. As my first customers, I'm putting them on the house!"

Kairi took one. "Wow...thank you!" She smiled and looked over the ice cream bar she had been given. She gave it a lick and sampled its flavor. She blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Is it supposed to be salty?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "It gets sweet after you've been eating for a little bit." He took a few licks of his own, sighing happily when the flavor hit. "Ahh...that's good." Kairi, curious, took another lick. After a few seconds, her face lit up as her taste buds finally realized the sweetness of the treat. She eagerly took a small bite from it. Sora lifted his own up, licking his lips.

_"Take a bite already! I haven't had one of these in forever!"_

Sora gasped softly at the voice he had heard in his head, but calmed after a moment. It had just been Roxas. With a small chuckle, he took a bite. The salty flavor settled in for a bit, but soon gave way to a very sweet taste. The three friends smiled widely as they enjoyed their treats, finishing them a few minutes later.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Scrooge brought up as they finished. "The others are lookin' for you three. You'd better get down to Merlin's house!"

"Oh?" Sora halted his ice cream where it was and nodded. "Alright. We'd better get going, then." Sora motioned to his friend's. "Follow me. Merlin's isn't far."

Staircases and squares of cement led them down to the lower ground of the town. Upon that, they traversed under a bridge that, since Sora's last visit, had been touched up. The stone was no longer cracked and it was filled with fresh cement. Turning left, they rounded a corner to enter a small courtyard. Right in front of them was a small building looking very much like a house. It looked ordinary, but Sora knew that it housed an extraordinary being.

Riku took a look over the house, then took a deep breath. It did not go unnoticed by Kairi. "Nervous?"

"Nah," Riku replied. "I just feel out of place. I spent a lot of time sneaking around these past few months. Operating openly will be a change, to say the least."

"Relax, Riku," Sora answered. "These guys are great." He confidently knocked upon the door a few times, upon which it swung opened. A girl with short black hair was behind it. She wore a black band wrapped around her head and had skinny grey boots going just above her calves. A black shirt with white flowers covered most of her torso and she wore a black vest lined with grey, as well as zippers.

"Oh!" She smiled widely. "Welcome back, Key-boy!" She lifted her hand in front of Sora. With a smile, Sora proceeded to give her a high-five. "And Kairi! I haven't seen you in forever. You've grown a lot since then."

"Thanks, Yuffie!" Kairi replied, giving her fellow woman a hug. "You've changed a lot too. I like it!"

"I like your changes too," Yuffie answered. "Sora didn't tell me you'd gotten so pretty in the meantime."

Sora's cheeks reddened a bit. "Well, er...I haven't seen her in a while...so I wouldn't know, you know?"

Yuffie chuckled at his rosy cheeks. "Well, everyone can see that you're thinking it." She called inside. "Hey, everybody! Sora's here!"

Sora quickly stepped into the house to stop any further inquiry about his rosy cheeks. "Hey there," he greeted.

The first figure, a blonde-haired man in a white T-shirt and jeans spun his seat at a computer with a large screen to face them. "Wassup, kids? Sorry we forgot to roll out a red carpet."

"Nice to see you too, Gramps," Sora retaliated. Cid grumbled a little at that chosen nickname and fell silent.

Meanwhile, the second girl was a tall woman with brown hair. She had a pigtail in the back, tied with a pink ribbon, and wore brown boots. She clasped her hands together as she approached. "Welcome back, Sora."

"Thanks, Aerith," Sora answered. He saw Aerith look to Kairi and nod. Her gaze fell upon Riku and her head tilted a little bit. "Oh, right," Sora remembered. "Everyone, this is my friend, Riku."

"Riku?" Yuffie repeated. "Isn't that the name of that friend of yours that turned evil and sided with Malefi-" She paused abruptly when she saw inhaling deeply. "Er..." She hopped in front of him, smiling wider than normal. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Yeah..." Riku skeptically said in return. "Right."

"Now, don't be like that," Yuffie insisted. "You're not evil anymore, after all!"

"That don't make up for what he's done, though," Cid reminded, standing up and walking over. "Lemme ask ya this, you little punk: Did you destroy anyone or anything while you were sided with all them people?"

Riku grumbled at the thoughts that were resurfacing in his mind, but he pushed them back. "Not that I can think of..." Then he shook his head in finality. "Except some Heartless and property of the people I worked with...nothing."

Cid's expression loosened up and he smiled. "Then I'm thinking we'll let that one slide, m'kay?" He took hold of Riku's hand and shook it. "Cid Highwind. Glad to meet you, Riku."

"Yuffie Kisaragi," Yuffie greeted again. "But you can call me the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"I'll stick with 'Yuffie', if that's okay," Riku answered, accepting her handshake this time. His scowl had vanished, at least.

"I'm Aerith Gainsborough." Aerith stepped up to Riku and bowed gently before him.

Riku was slightly surprised by this gesture, but decided it respectful to bow in return. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Among the reunions, Sora noticed a few people absent, namely the owner of the house. "Where's Merlin?" Sora asked. "I would think he'd-" A _POOF_ of white smoke detonated behind Sora, startling the Keybearer and causing him to turn around. The smoke cleared and revealed the wizard clad in blue robes and a hat, Merlin.

"Oh, not to worry," he spoke. "I'm right here. I had a feeling you'd be around soon. Welcome, Sora, Kairi, and...er..." He raised his eyebrow at the third in Sora's group o friends. "Oh, and you must be Riku. Delighted to meet you, lad!"

"Good to meet you too, Merlin," Riku answered.

"Yes, yes, right," Merlin agreed, nodding. He cleared his throat a bit. "Now why did I come here again? Leon had a message of some sorts. For the life of me, I forgot what it was."

Yuffie and Cid each let out a long sigh, very accustomed and very annoyed of this quirk of the wizard.

"Oh, that's right!" Merlin declared. "Leon wanted to see you all. He is busy with work in Ansem's office, so you'll have to go to him."

"Haven't heard that one before," Yuffie grumbled. "If you want _anything_ done, you have to go to that office. It's like Leon lives there now."

"He has important duties, Yuffie," Aerith reminded gently. "He needs to oversee the things going on in town. That's a lot of responsibilities to take care of. It's because of his work that we no longer have a Heartless problem in the town."

"No Heartless problem?" Riku echoed. "You've gotten rid of the Heartless?"

Aerith nodded. "A few still linger here and there. But they get taken care of as soon as we detect them."

"Nobodies too?" Sora asked hopefully. Aerith nodded with a smile. "That's great!"

"Guess this means you get a bit of a break from bein' a hero, eh?" Cid mused. "You're welcome."

Sora nodded to Cid in return. "I guess there's nothing left but to go see Leon."

"I'll go with you!" Yuffie declared excitedly. "Waiting for you is all I've had to do today. I want to be where it's all happening." She dashed past them and flung open the door, running outside. "Might wanna hurry, though," she warned. "It's looking real cloudy all of a sudden!"

Sora peeked out the door. The dawn-colored hue of Radiant Garden's sky had been replaced with dark clouds, like that of a heavy rainstorm. "Guys?" He spoke to Sora and Kairi, keeping quiet. "You remember what Mickey said about-"

"Yeah," Riku interrupted. "A large storm gathering. It wasn't dark outside when we entered, so this is way too sudden to be a coincidence."

"One of the Elements is here," Kairi affirmed.

"No time to chat, you three!" Yuffie called from several feet away. "Let's get a move on!"

The trip to Ansem's office took them through the bailey, which had been touched up from the many brawls that had taken place here. Trailing down, the stairs had been reconstructed since his last visit so that they could actually be descended by the group of four rather than requiring them to jump down. Sora remained tense throughout the trip. The grey clouds were too reminiscent of the ones in his vision for his own good.

They got to the postern, then took the trip down the spiraling staircase that led to the entrance of the corridors inside the headquarters. When they had turned their first corner, the problem of several pathways presented itself.

"Ugh!" Yuffie grumbled. "I'll never get used to this place being a maze. It makes doing business around here too complicated."

"Maybe a map would help," Kairi suggested.

Before the point could be argued further, Riku, Yuffie, and Kairi heard a computerized voice speaking. "_Take a right on this hallway._"

Sora stepped forward, following the direction of a small, rectangular screen device that rested in his left hand. "Thanks, Jamie."

"_You're welcome, Sora_," it spoke back.

"We need to take a right," Sora informed. "Let's go." After a few seconds of hearing only his steps, he turned around to see the odd looks he was getting from his friends. Kairi's in particular seemed to be quite irritated. "Oh, this? Chip and Dale took all of my world maps and programmed them into this device."

"Why is it called Jamie?" Kairi asked, her eyebrows furrowing a tiny bit.

Sora backed away, a little nervous. "Chip and Dale named her that before they gave it to me. I just knew we'd get lost here, so she's helping us a lot."

"She?" Kairi asked in shock.

Sora, not being very discrete, stepped quickly to get ahead of the group, following his electronic map. There were three turns, two rights and a left, before there were on a path that only had one way to go: the right way. Another left turn took them towards the wooden door of the office. Opening it up slowly, they took a look inside. Sora had seen the office before. Ansem's research, scribblings, and other such things had been left on papers strewn about the office and even written on the walls. Now all of those things had been tossed out, leaving few traces of the original setup, save for the desk and the picture of Ansem the Wise on the wall.

"Talk about an overhaul," Sora observed. The office was now much more organized, actually having an overall sense of neatness to it.

"Yup," Yuffie agreed. "We decided this place needed a bit of TLC once the bit of action you guys brought about had subsided. It was mostly Leon, though. This place is not really Ansem's anymore."

"Can you blame me?" The door frame through which they had come into the office was now blocked by a man. He still had long brown shaggy hair, the scar across his right eye. He wore a fur-trimmed black vest over a plain white t-shirt. An eagle symbol on the side of the vest matched the emblem he wore as a necklace. "I work best when the space feels like it's mine."

"Leon!" Sora greeted, stepping up to his old friend. Humoring the boy, Leon held out a hand, which Sora slapped happily.

"Welcome to the new Radiant Garden, Sora," Leon said. He gestured to his friends. "Kairi and Riku, right?" The two Keybearers nodded. "Thought so. Glad to see you guys here as well."

Leon walked behind the desk and casually pulled out the chair and sat in it. "So what brings you guys here?" He propped his feet up, sighing gently in satisfaction. "I'm guessing you are here because of something, right?"

Sora, Riku, and Kairi exchanged glances for a bit, mostly with Riku and Kairi looking to Sora for confirmation. After a second, Sora decided that he would speak. With a nod, he began. "Leon, if we tell you, I need you to keep it a secret, just for a little bit. We don't want anybody freaking out."

Leon was about to answer when Yuffie jumped up beside him, placing her arm around him and saluting Sora and his friends. "No worries, Sora! We can keep a secret!"

Leon pulled his feet from on top of the desk and lifted Yuffie's arm from his shoulders. "You won't be keeping the secret, Yuffie. I'm asking you to leave for this."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie leaned in closer to Leon, putting on a pleading expression. "C'mon, Leon! Please? Please? Pleeeeeaaaase? I won't tell anyone, I swear!" She leaned in closer with each word she spoke.

"Yuffie, I have my reasons," Leon replied. "The last time I made you swear not to tell something, you told a ton of people my real name."

"That was different!" Yuffie insisted fiercely. "That was just something that was funny to me! I can tell that this is really serious and I would never break a serious promise like that. Please, Leon, just gimme a chance!"

Leon inhaled deeply, then sighed to the same extent. "Fine, you can stay and listen." He gestured to Sora. "Well, we're waiting. You might as well start."

Sora spent the next few minutes relaying his vision to them. He proceeded on with the departure from the islands, the new enemies, and the prophecy about the Elements.

Leon and Yuffie were speechless for a moment. Leon was very stoic while Yuffie's eyes were very wide and her mouth hung open a little bit.

"So let me guess," Leon began, standing up. "The dark grey clouds out there either mean that Radiant Garden is in danger again or that one of the Elements is here?" Sora nodded to confirm it. More silence followed until-

"_Leon!_" A voice, the sound of a young man, sounded from a communicator on Leon's desk, a circular device. "_Come in, Leon!_"

Leon took it up and pressed the button that allowed his voice to be heard on the other end. "What's going on?"

"_Heartless everywhere! They just appeared without much warning. Hurry here! We can't hold them by ourselves for long!_"

"Right!" Leon shut off the device and put it in his pocket. From beneath the desk, he drew his Gunblade. "Let's go!" he urged.

As they ran behind Leon, Sora feared he'd get left behind trying to fumble for Jamie, his GPS. Then again, he had forgotten to count on the fact that Leon lived in Radiant Garden. He knew the way like no other. They dashed up the stairs and reached the postern. The clouds had darkened even more, leaving a great shadow over the world. A clap of thunder sounded, followed by more of the lightning that had crossed the sky before they had come outside. This lightning created more thunder and before long, rain began to pour down.

Before they could calm down and be relieved by the fact that it was just a storm, a darker shadow began to cover them. It gave way to several portals upon the ground. Forty Heartless, Shadows and Soldiers, pulled their way out of them and stood in the path of the five warriors.

"This is bad," Leon said,. "The system can't handle such an excessive amount in one area." Sora, Riku, and Kairi summoned their Keyblades. Yuffie pulled out a few small shuriken. Moments later, a flash of black seemed to pierce the air. As it came a by, a burst of indigo energy was blasted in the center of the Heartless crowd. A large explosion of fire followed, terminating most of them and severely burning the others.

"Holy-!" Riku exclaimed, stepping back. "What just happened?"

"That was so fast," Kairi gasped. "I barely saw it!"

Without taking another hint, Sora hurled his Keyblade forward into the crowd of burning Heartless. It resulted in a boomerang effect that took down whatever Heartless that barely survived the blast. After they had withered and faded back into darkness, a creature soared above them. It flew for some distance before turning around and diving towards them.

"It's coming for us!" Sora realized, holding up his Keyblade.

"No!" Leon snapped. "It's okay. He's on our side."

The creature landed before them, slowing its pace just before it got to the ground. For the first time, the Keybearers could see it close enough to realize that it was, shockingly enough, a dragon. It was pretty large, almost dinosaur-like. Dismounting it was a boy with shaggy brown hair. He had a green shirt with a brown leather vest and torn blue pants. The thing that caught their attention was his left foot. It was made of metal and fabric, attached to his leg.

"You can't hold out much longer, huh?" Leon lowered his sword and relaxed a bit. "Good job, Hiccup."

"Thanks, Leon," the boy answered, dismounting the dragon. The dragon blinked a few times. It had wide green eyes with a large black iris in each one. Its gaze fell upon the Keybearers and it opened its eyes wider. After some intense staring, it darted at Sora. Sora was heavily startled and backed up. The boy, Hiccup, followed the dragon quickly and took hold of reins that had been tied to its back.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy, buddy," he said, calming the creature. "You're Sora, right?" Sora nodded to confirm. "I'm Hiccup. This is my Night Fury, Toothless."

"Toothless?" Kairi echoed. "Why is that?" In response, Toothless opened his mouth, revealing no teeth. "Oh, should have guessed. That makes-" She yelped a little bit when several razor sharp teeth emerged suddenly from Toothless' gums. Kairi shook a little bit. "N-n-nice dragon..." She reached out her hand slowly. Toothless perked up his ears and stepped forward, rubbing his nose against her hand. Kairi smiled a bit. "You like this, I see," she giggled, petting the dragon more comfortably now. "Aww! He's kind of cute!"

"What's happening, Hiccup?" Yuffie asked, putting away her shuriken. "You sounded overwhelmed a few minutes ago."

"I can't really explain it," Hiccup replied. "It's so weird. We were on patrol and everything was fine. The next second: BOOM! Heartless are coming from everywhere. It doesn't make sense!"

"We can't figure it out either," Leon informed. "Look, we need to move forward. Can you and Toothless fly ahead and be sure our path is cleared?"

"Sure thing!" Hiccup stepped beside Toothless and placed one foot inside a stirrup, a piece of a saddle strapped to the dragon's back before pulling himself up and getting secure. "Let's go!" he ordered and Toothless quickly took to the skies again.

They made it as far as the bailey before they had to stop to defend themselves. Looking up, they could vaguely make out Toothless and Hiccup, surrounded by Wyverns and Sky Soldiers. No air protection meant they were on their own.

Leon pounded two in a row, becoming angered pretty quickly. "I don't have time to deal with you anymore!" he bellowed as he cut down the Heartless.

Kairi, the least inexperienced of the fighters, felt overwhelmed very quickly by the Armored Knights. They circled quickly around the group. They were fast enough that she had a hard time keeping sane. This was her first fight. "Stay still!" she demanded, swinging at one and missing.

"Keep it together, Kairi!" Riku urged.

"I'm trying!" Kairi backed away from the advancing creatures. "But there's so many!"

"Keep your ground!" Sora shot a Fire spell at one of them. "They're scared of you, remember? You're a Princess of Heart with a Keyblade. Double trouble for them!"

"R-really?" Kairi replied, feeling her strength increase a little. "You think so?"

"I know you can," Sora reassured. "You have to make it happen!"

Kairi held up her Keyblade. "Right!" Confident, she burst forward. "Eat this!" she cried at the Heartless. She swung at one of them, which hit back at her Keyblade with its own sword. The two collided and Kairi felt the impact through her body. "Ahh!" She winced, trying to stay firm. She swung upwards, reversing her swing. It made a cut in the Heartless' armor. Seeing that she had done something, she cheered and made another strike, even more powerful. This one eradicated the Heartless and sent the heart floating to the sky.

Kairi blinked several times. Then she laughed in triumph. "Guys, I did it!"

"Great job, Kairi!" Riku congratulated.

"Yeah, splendid," Leon quipped blandly. "But we have about fifteen more to take care of!"

"We can get them," Sora promised. "Leon! Riku! Let's create an explosion."

The two other warriors took Sora's cue, followed shortly by Kairi. The men cut a path through the Heartless to get through as Kairi followed. She cut down another Heartless on her way out. Riku, Sora, and Leon formed a horizontal line facing the Heartless. Sora and Leon held out their weapons while Riku drew his hand in, gathering in dark energy.

"Ready?" Riku called.

"Yeah!" Sora and Leon's weapons glowed orange, burning with flame. The Heartless gathered into a formation and marched towards the group.

"FIRE!" Leon bellowed. Fire belted from his Gunblade and Sora's Keyblade. From Riku's hand, a Dark Firaga was blasted. Leon aimed straight for the Heartless. Sora and Riku shot at an angle, but towards the same targets. The three blasts collided in front of them and expanded into a larger blast, enveloping the Heartless and created a bright flash of light. Kairi covered her eyes. Sora and Riku looked away. Leon just stood very still with his eyes shut.

It was several moments before Leon decided to open his eyes. "It's clear," he informed. The three Keybearers squinted, then opened their eyes further. Seeing that the Heartless had all vanished amongst the small burning flames that remained of the blast that Leon had teamed up with Sora and Riku to create.

"Whoa..." Kairi gasped. "I knew you guys were powerful, but that was incredible."

"That was nothing, Kairi," Riku boasted proudly. "We only took care of about twenty Heartless here."

"And there's probably more," Leon reminded. He put his fingers to his chin in thought. "But what the heck could've brought them here?"

The thought was present in Sora's mind very quickly. _One of the Elements is here, _he thought. _Which could mean that some force of darkness is trying to-_ Sora was struck with an epiphany and gasped. "Maleficent!"

"Maleficent?" the others repeated.

Riku clenched his fist a bit. "You think it's her?"

"I'm almost completely sure," Sora declared. "One of the Elements is here for sure. I'm sure Maleficent would be interested in recruiting them."

"Where do we start looking?" Kairi asked.

"Follow the storm," Sora answered. "At the place where it's the strongest, we'll find what we're looking for." He advanced onward from the bailey and peered over the edge of the rocky terrain, down towards the castle gates, the area where he had faced and destroyed the Nobody Demyx not long ago. The scattered tiles were absent now, repaired and returned to their rightful spots. The destroyed archway was now completed once again and the floor had a polished shine to it. Two beings stood upon it, one of which Sora recognized.

* * *

Uncertain circumstances surrounded a teenage boy. He had shaggy brown hair, blue eyes, a grey shirt, slightly tattered jeans, and black shoes on his feet. Standing before him was a woman that stood at a higher stature than him, at least seven feet tall. She was donned in a cloak of black with dark purple lining on the inside. Her skin was a very pale green and the wooden staff she held was topped with a green orb.

He took a step back. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I'm someone who can help you, dear child," the woman spoke in a luring voice. "I know who you are and I know what has happened to you. Your world has vanished, your family and friends are gone, and your life as you know it has crumbled." She cupped her fingers beneath his chin, tilting his head to look up at her. "What if I told you I could get you everything you loved and cared for back?"

His eyes widened in longing. "You could do that?" He relaxed a bit, listening to the words of this woman. "Who are you? And why do you want to help _me_?"

The woman smiled as she ran her hand along the boy's face. "My name is Maleficent," she revealed. "And I want to help you because, inside you, I see great power and potential. Join me, and we can accomplish great things together." She chuckled sweetly at him. "What's more, we've just met and I already feel a connection between us, like a mother to her son."

The boy lifted his hand carefully to touch the one on his face, feeling the skin of Maleficent. As he did so, another boy's voice sounded in the area.

"What's this, Mom?" Maleficent whirled around to see a silver-haired teenager landing upon the ground and walking towards her. "Trying to find a replacement for your old son?" He smirked widely and laughed. "I knew you never really loved me."

"Riku!" Maleficent snarled. "You're a fool to face me now."

"I guess so," Riku answered dimly, sighing deeply. "Wish I had backup." On cue, three more figures, two boys and a girl, hopped down from a ledge and landed beside Riku. "Oh, wait a second: I do!"

The first boy beside Riku had very spiky hair and a black outfit clad with many zippers and pockets, as well as very large shoes. The girl had red hair with a pink outfit, wearing just as determined a look as her friends. The last was a taller individual that looked more serious and grown-up than the others.

Sora and his friends looked over the boy that Maleficent stood in front of. His hair was a shaggy brown and he had greyish-blue eyes. He wore some tattered clothing, a grey shirt with torn pants. There was a black wristband worn on his right arm. But a key feature caught Sora's attention and that was a necklace around the boy's neck, in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Listen to us!" Riku urged from where he stood. "Don't listen to Maleficent! What she's trying to do to you almost destroyed me. She'll seem to help you, but you'll just be her puppet! Then she'll burn you once you aren't useful to her anymore!"

The boy's eyes widened even more and he looked up to Maleficent. She didn't falter, turning her back to the others. "See the truth, boy. Don't listen to those imbeciles! They only desire to use you for your power based on some dated belief called 'destiny'. I want you for more than your power. I am also a friend."

"She's lying! Don't listen to her" Sora yelled.

"Open your eyes, child!" Maleficent egged him on.

"Please, don't choose her!" Kairi called to the boy.

The boy looked back and forth between the two groups of people. His head started to hurt and he held onto it. "Ugh..." He seethed loudly. The pressure between the two opposing forces was causing him to become more riled up. "Stop it!" he yelled. The violent storm that raged above them became more intense. Rain began to pour down as he yelled to the sky.

Then, something else happened. His hands began to crackle. What appeared to be bolts of electricity began to form in the palm of his hands. The energy continued to form, creating an aura around his forearms as well as his hands. Rain poured down and the eyes of the boy began to glow with a bright white color.

"Yes, yes!" Maleficent cackled wildly. "Good, boy! Release your power! Let yourself reach your full potential."

The boy marched forward, heading towards Sora and his friends. He was growling audibly, powered up with electricity coursing into his being. His power had created the storm around them and now he had brought the storm into the palm of his hand. He lifted one hand and pointed it towards the Keybearers and Leon.

"No!" Sora summoned his Keyblade, preparing to defend himself.

Leon held up his Gunblade in anticipation. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, kid!" he bellowed in warning. However, neither group seemed to notice that while one hand was trained on the gang, the boy was moving his other hand to point at Maleficent. The oblivious witch cackled as he moved.

"Very good, my boy! Show those fools what power you possess!" She held out her arms in triumph. "Fulfill only your own-" Her gleeful expression vanished when she saw his hand now pointed at her. "What? What are you doing?"

The boy flung his head back and yelled to the sky. "RAAAAAAH!" The electricity was released from both of his hands. One blast of the spell aimed at each group, round and two feet in diameter. Maleficent quickly morphed into an orb of green and floated above the scene to dodge the energy headed her way. The Keybearers and Leon ran to the sides and jumped out of range. That blast made a significant amount of cracks in the stone structure behind them and the blast intended for Maleficent burst through the reconstructed archway, demolishing it once again.

By the time the flash of power had vanished and the Keybearers had recovered, Maleficent had decided to depart. Her orb was nowhere to be seen any more. In the meantime, Kairi moved her arm away from her face to catch a glimpse of the boy running away and around the corner. "He went that way!" She pointed in the direction he had gone. "Let's go!"

"Hey, guys! Up here!" Hiccup's voice sounded out loudly and Toothless dove towards the area from the air just ahead of them, coming to a stop in the middle of the now-demolished courtyard. "Hop on. I can get one of you there faster!"

"Sora, you go!" Riku suggested. "We'll meet you down there in a minute."

"Alright." Sora climbed onto Toothless' back, sitting behind Hiccup. Taking hold of one of the latches on the saddle, he secured himself. "I'm ready." Toothless reared his body up, then shot into the air quicker than Sora could've predicted and darted across the landscape of Hollow Bastion. "Whoaaa!" Sora took a tight hold of the harnesses. They held him in place, but he could feel his arms being tugged by the heavy wind created by the sheer speed of the dragon he was flying upon.

"Sorry!" Hiccup called back in apology. "Don't worry, It's a bit shocking for everybody the first time around!"

They flew over the Great Maw, a place where a massive battle had taken place only a couple of months before. The area was rocky and natural, but jagged in places where battle had tarnished it. Hiccup slowed up a little bit, gliding over the area. Once Sora got his bearings, he looked down. Ignoring the height that unnerved him a bit, he narrowed his eyes upon the terrain. Running across it was a figure that could only be the boy. "Take us down!" Sora urged.

Meanwhile, the boy was sprinting as fast as he could across the Great Maw. His breathing was heavy, more from shock than from any sort of exhaustion. Toothless let out a cry in the air before he took initiative to descend, slowly. When he neared the ground, Sora swung his leg over to the other side, then gently hopped off, aiming to land by the kid.

The boy continued to run, but he slowed up, then stopped. His fatigue was beginning to catch up with him and he needed to regain his energy. "Why is this happening to me?" He heard a small clap on the ground and he turned to see Sora. He had little energy left to run away with, so he didn't bother.

Sora was glad he wasn't running. It'd be easier to talk him down this way. "Please don't run." He took a couple of steps closer. "I just want to talk to you for a bit."

"Why are you guys after me?" the boy asked. "What is so important that you have to come after me?"

"Don't take it that way," Sora began. "I know what's-" Before he could finish, the column of green fire appeared once again. Sora called his Keyblade as Maleficent materialized before them.

Toothless remained hovering in the air, hissing loudly at the presence of Maleficent. Hiccup tensed up, preparing for the worse just in case he had to.

"Oh, lovely," Maleficent grumbled. "You're still here." She faced the boy and smiled widely. "You have an impressive power boy. But power does little without discipline." She held out her hand, coaxing the boy to her. "Come with me and I will help you."

"Leave him alone!"

Maleficent looked ahead and scowled. Kairi had called that to her, followed by Riku and Leon, both with determined looks upon their faces. Weapons were instantly drawn as they charged. "That does it!" she yelled. "Deal with this, you rotten imbeciles!" She raised her staff above her head and clutched it tightly with both hands. Closing her eyes, she focused her energy. Green flashes of darkness slowly began to gather around her person. When it had built a layer of greenish glow all around her, she opened up her eyes and cackled. "Come forth, Heartless! Attack!"

Behind her, blackness covered almost all visible ground. From them, Heartless after Heartless crawled up. Twitching in the mindless manner that they did, the Heartless ran at the group, bypassing the boy and heading straight for the Keybearers and Leon.

Sora threw his Keyblade, spinning it into the advancing army of Soldier Heartless, whose numbers were still steadily increasing. Seven were eliminated from the initial throw and three more were struck down as the Keyblade zipped back into his hand. Upon this, he retreated back to his friends, holding up his blade. "Any ideas?"

Seeing the approaching, Kairi's eyes widened heavily. "Ahh!" she screamed very audibly. She shrank, back, huddling her Keyblade close to her.

"C'mon, Kairi!" Riku yelled back, cutting three Heartless down in three quick strikes. "You've got to pull through!"

Leon leaped back. "Cover me!" he called. He held his sword firmly in his hands and focused. His muscles trembled, showing just how much he was putting into this attack. "I need a few moments to get this ready!"

"Alright. I got your back!" Sora jumped before Leon. "Reflect!" The magical barrier was placed before them, Sora holding off intruding Heartless. Before long, they tried to get around the field of energy. "Kairi! We need your help!"

Kairi shook her head. "I can't do it!" she cried, her voice trembling as she neared tears. "There's too many for me!"

"Fire!" Riku yelled, blasted a small group of Heartless from a pack that was beginning to surround him.

"You can do it, Kairi!" Sora promised. "You're a Princess of Heart. You just have to focus!"

Kairi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She stepped forward, still shaking. "Alright...I'll...give it a try." She stared down into the face of Heartless that was circling her and she lifted her Keyblade. "Don't come any closer," she threatened. Staring the mindless creature in the face, she focused very hard. "I guess I've been so scared, I forgot who I am." She took a breath again and charged at the Heartless, who simultaneously leaped at her. Kairi's Keyblade emitted a bright light. "Take this!" She swung it at the Heartless, tearing through it without any troubles. The light didn't fade and she charged forward, swinging it again and again as her power began to emerge.

"Yeah, now you've got it!" Riku complimented. "Now- Whoa!" He ducked to avoid the pounce of a Heartless before he turned around and stabbed into it. He quickly pulled his Keyblade and swung it behind him to fend off Heartless taking his off-guard moment as an advantage. "Now can you help me out a bit?"

As the boy watched the battle unfolding, the dark creatures caught his attention. He didn't have to have intensive insight to feel the evil emanating from the creatures. Already, their presence was beginning to strengthen images in his mind that already claimed a spot at the front of his mind...

**Flashback**

He lurched up from his slumber when he heard screams from outside. He opened the curtains and looked outside. People were in a frenzy outside, running down the street as the wind blew pretty violently outside. With no idea what was happening, he took a look tot he sky. The clouds were more than just dark. They were pitch-black and showed heavy traces of some purple energy.

He flung open his closet and quickly threw on a shirt and jeans. He flung open his door and ran into the hallway. He went to his brother's bedroom and charged in. "Look outside, T-" He ceased speaking. The covers of the bed had been flung off and his brother wasn't there.

"What the heck is happening here?" His shock getting the better of him, he quickly ran downstairs and threw open the front door and ran into the front yard to get a look. As he looked eastward, he saw people running west. He stepped further down the road, his eyes blinking multiple times. Dark black fog was plunging from the sky and covered the area.

The sound of a scream broke him from his shock-induced trance. The fog before him had thickened. An elderly woman was running from the fog with surprising agility, but the fear she felt caused her to tremble and eventually stumble. Falling to the ground gave the fog the opportunity to loom upon her. Forming a small stream of energy, it took hold of her ankle and began to pull her away. "Someone help!"

The boy sprinted, ignoring that the fog was spreading even more and took hold of the woman's hand. "Hold on, miss!" He took a tight hold, halting the fog's efforts.

The woman's scream ceased. "Oh my god!" she whimpered, taking hold of the boy's arm. "Please, please, don't let go!"

The boy held her arm with his other hand. "I won't!"

The fog was not a trifle to fight against, though. Its catch had been halted, so it increased its hold, wrapping around the woman's legs and pulling harder.

"Help me!" the woman cried, tears starting to fly from her eyes.

"I'm not letting go!" the boy assured, but the fog's grip was strong on the woman. His muscles were aching heavily. "No..." He yelled in agony, but didn't let go. The fog seemed to let up again, but then more energy came out and snatched the woman's torso into its hold. One more forceful yank ripped the boy's hold from the woman and tugged her into the darkness.

"NOOOO!" the woman shrieked. "AAAAAGGGH!" Her screamed quickly became distant and had been totally silenced one second later. There was no sign left of her in the fog.

Now that the fog had taken the woman, it now bore down upon the boy. With no other option, he turned tail and run. He had never had such capability to run in his entire life, but he had also never faced such an unexplainable, frightening danger. Looking behind him as he ran, he could see a few others meeting the same fate as the woman. It was too unbelievable to be real. It had to be a dream...but he felt very wide awake...

He stopped, ahead of the fog by plenty, and smacked his own face very hard. "Aaah!" It hurt pretty badly, but it convinced him. "This isn't a dream..." He took up another burst of speed, running onto the park. The wind started to pick up, forcing him forward faster than he was able to control. His feet smacked against the ground and he was pushed over by his forced clumsiness, landing on the ground and being rolled forward by the wind. The fog was not far from him, only about ten yards away. The boy was too hurt to run and he closed his eyes, preparing to meet his fate.

With his eyes closed, he heard something slice through the air before him. Opening his eyes, there was a man, wearing a large red overcoat, a black shirt and jeans clothing him beneath it. His left arm was in a sling built into the overcoat, as if broken. The second arm held a sword forward. The boy saw that the fog had dispersed a little, becoming not as thick and no longer moving towards them.

He looked up at him "Who are you?" The boy asked weakly as he tried to push himself to his feet.

The man looked down upon him. "My name is Auron," he revealed. His voice was deep and level, demanding a certain aura of command on his person. He sheated his sword in a large scabbard behind his back and took hold of the boy's arm, hauling him to his feet. "Now we have to get moving. It'll be back before long."

The boy took a deep breath, nodded, and began to do as Auron said. Auron followed close by, running at the same pace without showing the same fatigue that the boy was clearly experiencing. After several seconds, he made a quick dash forward and shocked the boy by leaping into the air, landing safely on top of the roof of a house.

"What the-?" The boy ran towards the house and tried to jump up as high, but he did not possess a power to jump like that. None the less, Auron was prepared, leaning over the edge and grabbing the boy's hand when it came into range. He waited a moment, then hoisted the boy up easily.

"Auron," the boy panted, still in intense surpise. "What is happening here?"

Auron's face turned to the city and he pointed. Waves of darkness were cascading through the city. Some of them towered a hundred-foot skyscraper. Every building was damaged heavily and began to topple. People's screams echoed through the air for a moment. The next, they were silenced.

The boy's eyes felt like they'd burst from his skull if he could widen them any further than they were. "Auron, tell me what's happening!"

"It's been happening in many worlds, not just here," Auron replied. "I have seen it done. The stories of hundreds of people have come to an abrupt end."

Before further explanation, a shriek sounded. A small mass of fog was launched from the massive cloud and came down beside the two. It extended, taking form and growing yellow eyes, sharp claws, but still retaining some foggy form. Six more similar projectiles came from the sky and formed identical creatures.

"Watch yourself," Auron warned. "My sword's power takes too much power to inflicte damage on these creatures. They are made of the very fog itself." As he heard it, a static sound was made. He turned to see the boy's hands crackling with electricity.

"What the-?" The boy had noticed it as well. "What the heck is this?"

"It's exactly what we can use." Auron pointed at the creature. "Use that energy and attack!"

"How do I do that?" The boy was panicking and the creatures weren't taking their time. One of them charged at Auron. In this moment, the boy's instincts snapped into place and he thrust his arm forward. The electrical energy traveled forward and struck the fog monster that attacked. It was instantly lit brightly by the massive shock as electricity coursed through its entire body. Thrusting his other hand forward, the boy was able to electrify a second one. The first monster flared up and dissolved. The electricy from the destruction of the first creature intensified that of the second one. It spread to the third, and fourth, which stumbled into the remaining three. Before long, all seven of the creatures had been eliminated.

"Darkness or not, fog is composed of water," Auron explained. "Water conducts electricity." He turned to the boy and raised an eyebrow, opening his squinting eyes a little bit. "I didn't expect my search to yield results, but I was wrong. It looks like you are one of them."

**End Of Flashback**

He was pulled back into reality after hearing those words a second time in his head. The creatures had formed a pattern of marching towards the group of Keybearers, along with Leon. The boy felt a great evil from these creatures as he had from the ones he had encountered. He closed his eyes, feeling the same as he had felt in the heat of the danger that had engulfed his own world. He opened up his eyes to have them glowing with a white light. He placed his hands together, allowing more electricity to gather in between them. Once a sufficient crackling had formed, he whirled to face Maleficent.

"What do you think you're doing?" Maleficent snapped. "Think, boy! I can help you and you would dare to strike against me?"

The boy lifted his arms, letting the lightning loose. "That's right!" Maleficent threw up a barrier of her green fire, but the energy pushed through it and struck her, knocking her back to the back of her small army of Heartless.

"Gaah!" A cry of pain escaped from Maleficent. With a heavy, seething anger, she struggled to her feet. "We will meet again, boy!" she said. "This I can promise!" She plunged her staff into the ground and erupted a column of fire around herself. Her figure faded from the area, disappearing as mere streaks of darkness into the sky.

As she vanished, the portals from which the Heartless were emerging began to close up. By now, there was well near two thousand of them, with very few being destroyed at a time. The boy turned to face the Keybearers. Looking lower, he set his eyes on the army and charged.

"Wait a second!" Sora called. His call was unheeded and the boy ran ever closer.

Predicting the boy's move, Leon stepped away from the Heartless and turned to run. "I think he's about to attack. Get back, everybody!"

Kairi, still in her stride, willed her heart to feed the Keyblade more light. She released the energy at last when she swung it. A wave of light cut through four Heartless. "Now, guys!" she called to Sora and Riku before following Leon's example.

"I'm not one to run," Riku stated. He dismissed his Keyblade and fired two Dark Firagas at the advancing army. "But if this kid wants to share the job, that's fine by me."

Sora followed Riku, being the last one to retreat from the battle. Their attention, however, had been mostly shifted towards the boy and the energy he emitted. In a wave, the Heartless turned and marched towards the boy. The boy didn't falter anymore, standing confident. The Heartless at the front of the pack's center shuddered in preparation, then leaped at the boy. At the same time, the boy thrust his arm forward.

An intense light filled the area, a light that forced the eyes of Leon and the Keybearers to avert from the sight of it, clenching them tightly closed and covered them as well. A large rumble was heard before them. They couldn't see, but the sound of vanishing Heartless was traveling throughout the air, so they knew that he was doing something about it.

Daring to squint, they waited for the light to fade and took a look ahead. What was witnessed opened the eyes of everybody. They moved forward to get a closer look at what had happened.

Many of the Heartless surrounding the boy were now gone, with only the small number of nineteen remaining. The boy opened up his eyes, which had abandoned the glow, and he now held in his hand a Keyblade.. The handle on the inside was black. The surrounding frame was yellow. The extending blade was a black pole with a lightning design etched into it. At the tip of the blade, three sparks of lightning stuck out, shaping the end of the key. From the handle, a keychain hung in the shape of a thundercloud.

The boy heard voices around his head. The words _Lightning Storm_ echoed within his head. Multiple times, he heard the voices. As soon as they vanished, he took the hint. This weapon heavily resembled the one that two of the boys and the girl that had sought him out were using to fight the Heartless. Without further need to consider it, the boy stepped forward and struck at them. A simmer of electricity coursed through the Heartless for a brief instant each time he hit them. After a few hits apiece, the Heartless went down.

The boy, curious for what his weapon could do, tried to copy the girl's attack. He held his Keyblade inward and it began to gather a heavy amount of electricity. Lifting his weapon into the air, it conjured up points about ten feet above him that that emitted small lightning strikes, bringing them down upon the Heartless.

"Should we get back in?" Kairi asked.

"Why bother?" Riku replied. "This kid gets it now. He can take care of them by himself."

Sora, confident, began to walk over. Just as he had arrived, the boy was chopping the last Heartless into a crumpled mess that quickly vanished in a whisp of darkness and a rising heart, just as the others had. "Way to go!" he congratulated. "You got them all by yourself!"

The boy was silent. A sigh escaped him as his Keyblade disappeared from his hand and he started to walk away. He was not urgently running away. He merely walked.

"Huh?" Sora stepped forward to try and talk to him again, but he felt a hand upon his shoulder.

"Sora." Riku's voice was heard behind him. "Give the kid a few minutes. He's been through a lot."

Sora looked back at the kid, watching his solemn steps, and nodded in agreement. He stood with his friends, biding his time for a few minutes to give the kid to be alone.

* * *

The boy entered the Dark Depths. A patch of smooth terrain on the cliff was separated from most other parts of the world, a perfect place for isolation. He sat down at the edge, staring out into the ruins of the castle in the distance. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Before long, he could feel warm tears streaming down his face.

_Why?_ he said in his mind. _Why my world? I haven't done anything to deserve this. I never asked for any of what's happening to me. So why me?_ He opened up his eyes. Frustration and sadness were building up within him and he rose to his feet. "GAAAAH!" he yelled. As he did so, his hands had built up an electrical blast. He pounded the ground with his fists. His power was a bit weaker than before, but it still made plenty of small cracks across the terrain.

He could not see behind him, where the group had quietly followed him here and caught up to him. Staying in the darkness of the passage leading to the flat area where he sat, they were cautious.

Sora looked to his friends. "I'm going to try and talk to him," he informed.

"Watch yourself," Leon warned. "This kid looks pretty unstable."

Sora nodded and stepped forward. The boy had taken a seat again, run his hand through his hair as he sniffled. Sora quietly sat beside him. He looked over to see the boy's eyes covered by his hair. Sora could barely see the eyes, so he knew that the boy could see him. He did nothing to harm Sora, which was a good sign.

"You did a great thing back there," Sora said.

The boy shrugged. "I did what anyone would do."

"No, you didn't," Sora replied. "Trust me, there are people who wouldn't be able to do the things you did. That took a lot of guts."

The boy wiped his face with his hand. He pushed his hair from in front of his eyes, revealing his face some more. "What's happening to me?"

Sora took the time to explain the vision he had to the boy. He told him of the darkness, the Heartless, the creatures the boy had faced in his world that had wound up destroying it. He explained Maleficent to him, followed by his adventures to save the universe and the Keyblade.

"So..." The boy blinked a few times. "So you just need me because I'm part of some prophecy? That's the only reason you're so insistent on bringing me to your side?"

"No, of course not," Sora promised. "I know what some people go through during times like these. There are so many horrible things out there. I worry if that stuff happens to _anyone_, not just me or people I know."

"Do you know?" the boy replied skeptically. "You're trying to tell me that you've watched people you care for and love get swallowed by some dark power or you know your friends are getting killed knowing you'll never see them again? Have you watched the world that you've grown up in just collapse around you before? Huh?" He sighed deeply. "I have a hard time believing that you have even a _clue_ about what I'm going through."

Sora flinched a little bit at the harshness of the words, but he affirmated himself quickly. "I do." The boy looked up in disbelief. "My entire homeworld was swallowed by darkness when I was fourteen. I know you have to believe me when I say that nothing is scarier than that." The boy could tell Sora was telling the truth and he slumped his head in dismay. Sora's tone softened a little bit when he spoke next. "But that's not the end of it."

The boy's head jerked up from its drooped state and looked at Sora. "Are you saying I can get my world back?"

Sora nodded. "Once the dark forces I was fighting against were defeated, the worlds were restored and its inhabitants were brought back to life."

"Really?" The boy lurched to his feet, his tears now completely gone. "So I can save my friends? And family?"

"And everyone else in the world," Sora promised. "We're trying to do the same for a bunch of different worlds that have met the same fate as yours. They'll all be brought back. There's powerful stuff out there and we could use your help, if you'd like to give it."

The boy smiled widely. His doubt was practically gone now, as Sora's words had given him high hopes. "What're we waiting for?" he said happily. "Let's go get 'em!"

Sora laughed. "I like what I'm hearing." He stood to his feet, as did the boy. Sora held his hand out. "By the way, my name is Sora."

"Sora?" the boy repeated. He grabbed Sora's hand and shook it. "Good to meet you. My name is Tylor."

"Tylor." Sora repeated the boy's name. "I really hope we can put this behind us and be friends."

"Oh, don't worry" Tylor replied, smiling a bit. "You just caught me in a teenage crisis. I'm easy to get along with."

Sora and Tylor ceased their handshake and Sora gestured the opposite direction. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the others."


	5. Tropical Blizzard

The dark room was empty and eerie. The surrounding walls were dusty gray, absent of anything but shadow. The appearance of a green flame illuminated the room briefly to signal the arrival of Maleficent. She breathed heavily and clutched her stomach, afflicted from the battle she had just fought. It caused her to limp her way to a round table. "Typical. The first Element we find didn't seem to take to our cause," she whispered to herself, smacking the table with her left fist.

"_Another 'successful' mission, I see._" Maleficent looked up to see the green apparition of a figure. Her new form of communication allowed each of her allies to tend to affairs in their own worlds, but to converse with each other when needed. The image shown standing on her table was that of a tall man, balding with little hair. He was on older man who wore a black cape around himself. He wore dark clothes of cloth on his torso and legs and had a sword attached to his waist. He wore the demeanor of an angry ruler, yet he smiled innocently at Maleficent.

Maleficent simply glared, waving her hand. "I'm in no mood for this, Galbatorix."

"_That's quite obvious,_" replied the apparition of the man, Galbatorix. His voice was laced heavily with condescending thoughts towards his ally. "_Shall I hear the latest in your quest of failure?_"

Maleficent scowled before she gave him an answer. "It was the first of the Elemental Keybearers," she replied. "That brat Sora and his friends convinced him to join them."

"_You seem worried,_" Galbatorix observed. "_It's unnecessary to feel as such._"

Maleficent, though weak, slammed her first on the table. Her eyes narrowed as her anger grew. "What are you talking about! The Elements are the key to the prophecy!" She could hardly believe she heard Galbatorix essentially throwing aside her plan.

He merely chuckled and shook his head. "_Calm yourself, my dear. Listen to me._" Maleficent didn't speak, though a certain look of disgust crossed her face when she was referred to as 'my dear'. "_The Elements may play a role in the fate of the universe, but how could you forgot our ally, one stronger and more powerful than most in the known universe?_"

Maleficent's eyes widened when the thought entered her mind, then she calmed herself and smiled. "Of course! I suppose I had forgotten all about our prime weapon. Those pitiful Keybearers couldn't take him on, even with the Elements on their side."

"_Exactly!_" Galbatorix agreed. "_So you have nothing to worry about. Now if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to._"

Maleficent nodded, understanding. "I would certainly hope a king would have some sort of affairs to deal with. Let me guess: the Varden?"

"_It is the only business I would prioritize above our affairs,_" he replied. "_They won't present a problem much longer, though. I will find them and deal with them._" The green apparition glowed brightly for a moment, then faded into blackness, leaving Maleficent alone in the dark

* * *

Tylor was apparently a bit shy, especially in a situation such as this, but Sora persuaded him to stand up and walk over with him to meet Sora's friends. "Guys, this is Tylor." Tylor managed a weak wave in return. "Tylor, these are my friends. There's Riku, Kairi, Leon, Yuffie, Hiccup and Toothless."

Tylor nodded in turn to each one, doing a double-take when he saw the dragon. "Why is he called Toothless?"

"If I got two munny every time I've heard that..." Hiccup muttered. "Well, when I first met him, his teeth were pulled back, so I called him Toothless."

Tylor nodded, petting the dragon softly. Toothless made a purr-like noise, nuzzing Tylor's hand. It forced a smile to finally cross Tylor's face.

"That was some attack back there," Riku said, gesturing to the valley that they had just arrived from. "How did you harness such power?"

"I can't say that I know," Tylor replied with a shrug. "I felt the pressure building up and eventually, the energy was just realeased from my body, like a tingling liquid flowing out. It was really we-" Tylor's sentence was cut off when he started to feel dizzy. His vision was beginning to blur, causing him to sway back and forth.

"Are you okay, Tylor?" Kairi asked. Her voice appeared to be much more distant to Tylor. It echoed as well. His vision deteriorated more as he began to see blurs all around him, several mirages of each person displayed before him. He swayed forward again and dropped to his knees.

* * *

Tylor eye's opened up to be staring at a brown ceiling. He sat up slowly and looked around he appeared to be in a room with nothing but a bed. The walls were a dark brown and it felt very musty in the room. The air itself seemed to have some kind of pressure upon him.

He got up, stretched, and walked into a bathroom adjacent to this room. The bathroom was small with only a toilet and a sink. He turned on the sink and used the cold water to wash his face. In such dank air, the cold water felt immensely refreshing.

He glanced up at the mirro and jumped back. He saw his reflection in there, but not what he was used to. The image he saw seemed to be him but with dark red eyes, fangs, claws, and a demonic look.

"Hello Tylor," the reflection whispered with a smile. The voice was a whisper laced with a heavy darkness and a growl, a very demonic voice.

Tylor's heart stopped for a moment in fear. He backed up slowly, then ran. Whatever it was, this thing was crawling out of the mirror. He returned to the bedroom only to find himself trapped inside. No doors were there and the creature from the mirror was inside the small space within seconds.

Tylor held up his arm and shot lightning at the figure. The creature held up his hand when the electricity hit. It absorbed into the air above his palm, intensifying it and turning it red. With a smirk, the creature flung it back at Tylor. It impacted his chest and sent him flying into the wall. Tylor grunted in pain and tried to get up before the creature stormed over and pushed Tylor back into the wall, digging his claws just above Tylor's shoulder.

"Your weakness has cost you once again," the demon snarled. "He died because of you. He died because you weren't powerful enough to save him. Join into me. _Become_ me. Leave your friends behind. They will never measure up to my power.

Tylor shook his head rapidy "Hell no!"

The creature cast an annoyed glare at Tylor. With a heavy sigh, it held up one of its hands. Red lightning was conjured and Tylor was in no position to avoid it. The clawed hand zoomed towards his face and-

* * *

Tylor shot up into a sitting position. He was on a bed again, only this time it was a roomier place. The inside of a house surrounded him and he he could see windows as well as a door. Turning his gaze to the end of the bed again, he looked upon a girl in a long pink dress with brown hair sitting beside him.

"Rest easy, Tylor," she spoke, her voice breathy and gentle. "It was only a dream."

"Thank goodness for that," Tylor muttered, still trying to calm his breathing. "Who are you?"

"My name is Aerith. Pleased to meet you," the woman replied. She held out a glass of water for him. "Drink this. It'll help."

He put the glass to his lips. To his great shock, literally, he could feel a crackling in his mouth from the electricity coursing through him. "What the-?" He pulled the glass away. "Am I gonna have to give up water now?" Tylor sighed and drank despite the popping that transpired in his mouth and throat. This was something he may just have to get used to until he found a way to control it.

He then saw a tall blonde figure walk up. "So this the electric boy everyone been talking bout?" The man leaned down, peering into his face. "Now I want a fair warning here: if I shake your hand, am I gonna get lit up?" Tylor shook his head. "Well, alright then." The blond man shook Tylor's hand firmly. "Name's Cid."

"How's he doing?" Tylor looked to the door to see the rest of the group walking in, led by Leon.

"He'll be fine," Aerith promised with a nod. "His attack drained a lot of his energy because it was so massive."

"We could see the whole thing from town," Cid said. "I thought there was gonna be a thunderstorm...and I was right!"

Tylor moved his feet to the floor and started to stand up. His legs were quite weak, though, and putting weight on them made them buckle a bit. Aerith tried to coax him back to the bed, but Tylor held up his hands. "I'm fine," he promised. "I can stand, at least."

"You sure?" Aerith asked, worried.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm sure," Tylor promised. He placed a hand on the bedpost just to be safe. "I just need to watch it when it comes to those attacks."

"No kidding," Leon agreed. "You don't know the limits of your powers yet. That attack nearly killed you."

"My powers!" Tylor's attention was focused very suddenly. "I've been meaning to ask...where do my powers come from?"

"You're one of three Keybearers known as the Elements," Sora explained. "Your power has probably been sleeping inside you for years. But now it's been awakened."

"There are three of them?" Tylor asked. He received unanimous nods from the others. "I must have survived because of my powers." He gasped and his eyes opened up wider. "I think I might know who they are!"

"Are you sure?" Riku asked. "Who are they?"

"One is my brother," Tylor answered. "The other is my best friend." He lifted his lightning-bolt necklace up for everyone to see. They all leaned in closer when he did. "They have necklaces kind of like this."

Leon smiled. "That's good news. If they're your friends, it shouldn't be hard to ask them to join us." His expression went stern again. "But finding them is going to be just as difficult. We have no idea where they might have ended up."

"Then we'd better get going!" Tylor urged, moving forward. "Ooh!' He took a deep breath and went still. "Oh jeez, that still kind of hurts..." Aerith gently coaxed him back over to the bed and sat him down.

"I guess I should speed up the recovery," she said. She closed her eyes and placed her hands together. "Heal." Above Tylor, three bells laced with herbs flashed, illuminating his body with a green glow. Almost instantly, Tylor felt like he'd been resting up for weeks.

He hesitantly got to his feet again, but he quickly found that Aerith's spell had worked. "Wow." Tylor kicked forward lightly with one leg, then the other.

Aerith smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Tylor replied. "Thanks!"

Riku opened up the door and gestured outside. "Then I guess we'd better be on our way." Sora and Kairi followed him outside. Tylor got up and walked out slowly, the last one to depart, keeping a bit of distance from the group.

"Bye, guys!" Yuffie called, waving.

Leon nodded. "Don't get killed out there."

"Come back in good shape," Aerith wished them gently.

"Bye!" Sora called, waving. "We'll find them!"

* * *

The stroll into town was fairly quiet. There was only a short distance to travel, granted, but it was still eerily quiet as they made their way through. Tylor trailed behind Sora, Riku, and Kairi, keeping a good six feet behind them. It didn't take incredibly long for them to take notice.

Kairi looked back at Tylor, seeing his eyes wandering lazily as he walked. "You think he's okay?" she said quietly, concerned.

"He's been through a lot in a really short time," Riku reminded. "You've got to give him some time."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "But we should do our best to make him comfortable with us. We're all going to be working together, right?" The three stopped walking and turned around. "Hey, Tylor!" Sora spoke up. Tylor's face traveled from looking at the sky to making eye contact with Sora. "Why don't you join us up here?"

Tylor nodded and heeded his words. "Sorry," he apologized. "Just thinking a lot."

"I know how that feels," Sora replied.

Tylor looked to Sora for an answer. "What happens after we find them?"

"Your friend and your brother?" Sora checked. Tylor nodded. "We go after Maleficent and the source of those creatures."

"Where's the source?" Tylor asked.

"We..." Sora shook his head. "We don't know."

"Oh..." Tylor bit his lip nervously, then sighed.

"Something the matter?" Kairi asked.

"I'd feel better if we knew what we were dealing with, that's all," Tylor explained. "Even if it's something huge, at least we would know what it is. Not knowing is a lot worse."

"We know how you feel," Riku agreed. "We'll be honest with you: this is not going to be easy. But the Keyblade went to you. It chose you, your friend, and your brother to help defend the universe. You guys have great power. Once you learn to control it, you'll be able to save a lot of people's lives." He turned back and smiled. "Now don't tell me that wouldn't be enough to get you through the day."

Tylor pondered the idea, saving people from these monsters and becoming a hero in their eyes. That thought brought a smile to his face, making him feel good even before he had begun to accomplish the feats that awaited him. "I guess that would feel good," he accepted.

"It does," Sora confirmed. "And you'll get to see other worlds too. There's so many awesome places out there that you can see."

"There's more worlds out there?" Tylor answered. "I always thought there were, but...wow. How do we get there?"

"With this." Sora stopped and gestured before them. "This is the Gummi Ship."

When Tylor's focused transferred from Sora to the ship, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "No...way!" Tylor ran at the ship, incedibly excited. Its ramp was already open and he rushed inside. "This is so cool!" he exclaimed. "This is a real spaceship?"

Sora, Riku, and Kairi poked their heads in as they walked up the ramp and watched Tylor running around the ship, shouting his enthusiasm at everything he saw.

"Well, at least he's happy," Kairi pointed out with a small smile.

Tylor grabbed the steering mechanism and turned it left and right. "Neeeeeooooowww!" He made his own sound effects for flying the ship, followed by weapons. "Take that: BOOM! Have some of this: PE-CHOO!" When he ceased his playful tirade, there was silence. Tylor looked back to see Sora, Riku, and Kairi staring at him. "Er...What? Is something on my face?" Their faces smiled widely and they tried to hold it in, but they couldn't keep themselves from laughing hysterically. After a few seconds, Tylor couldn't help but feel a little silly and laughed along with them.

"Well, now that's over." Sora walked towards the pilot's seat and sat in it. "Sit down and strap in. We're about to take off." He pressed a few buttons, starting the ship's engines. It hovered slowly upward, getting several feet off the ground. He pulled the steering mechanism and pulled it back gently, tilting the ship so that its nose pointed upward at an angle. "Hold on!" he called to the others. Riku and Kairi sat down in the only two available seats and Tylor was left without one. Sora didn't notice and started the accelerator. Tylor felt himself sliding back and he quickly took hold of the doorway leading into the cockpit. His legs were lifted into the air and he seemed to be gliding in place as the ship flew upward and into space.

Once it got out there, the ship steadied itself and slowed down. Tylor let go of the doorway and fell to his feet, though he stumbled a bit upon landing. When he regained his balance, he took hold of the back of Kairi's seat to keep it. Then he was able to look out the viewport and see the vast universe before him. Hundreds of stars sparkling right in front of their eyes, zooming past them as they were transported at incredible speeds through it. "Wow..." he whispered softly as he gazed in awe.

Kairi smiled up at him. "It's pretty spectacular, isn't it?"

"It's amazing," Tylor agreed. "And you guys get to see this all the time?"

"We do." Sora pressed the auto-pilot buttons, then kicked back in his chair and watched the view as well. "But it never really gets old."

* * *

The autopilot ran its course for several minutes. Chip and Dale were scouting the computer for information on worlds in the universe. They were told to transmit any data to the Gummi Ship that would help the Keybearers find what they were looking for. Knowing what had happened in Radiant Garden, the clues were bound to be pretty big if another of the Elements was roaming in a world.

"_Information received,_" the computer voice said. "_Setting course for Neeva._"

"Neeva?" Sora got up. "That's not a place I've ever been to."

"What's going on?" Tylor asked.

"Neeva, wherever that is, apparently has a disturbance that's worth checking out," Riku informed. "Your brother or your friend could be there."

"What's it like?" Tylor asked. "Does the computer say anything?"

"Let me look." Sora turned back and read the information on the screen. "Neeva is a very tropical world. Lots of rainforests, beaches, and islands."

"A lot like home, huh?" Kairi said. "What happened to disturb it?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Sora said. "Our course has been changed to go to Neeva."

"Alright!" Tylor cheered, excited to see yet another world. "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii!" The three looked at Tylor, confused at his statement. "It's a tropical place on my world."

"Oooh," they all responded, nodding their heads.

"_Approaching destination,_" the computer announced. Outside the window, they could see a world covered largely in water. Scattered across the landscape were a few large island continents as well as several small, individual islands. The Gummi Ship descended towards the largest one.

"Guys?" Tylor said, peeking out the window. "Something doesn't seem right."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"You said this place was tropical, right?" Tylor pointed outward. "Look at that."

It became clear to the other three very quickly that something was amiss. The air was cold and a large, white blanket of snow was coating the ground, falling steadily to the surface. Sora adjusted the engines to slow lessen the thrust until the ship touched down softly on a hill, also covered in snow.

As the ramp came down, the four Keybearers stepped out into the crunching white snow covering the ground. Sora had seem a bit more snow than Riku and Kairi had, as winter on the islands was fairly mild, but it still made him a bit happy to be surrounded by snow rather than sand, just for a change of pace.

Kairi leaned down and scooped some up in her hands, then tossed it up in the air and watched it sprinkle back down. "It's so pretty," she sighed happily.

"Gah!" Riku held the side of his face for a moment. When he removed his hand, he felt some snow on it. Riku turned in time to avoid a snowball that zoomed at his face again. He looked up and saw Tylor grinning, holding another snowball. "Bit mistake!" Riku warned. He scooped up some snow and quickly packed it into a ball and hurled it at Tylor.

"Whoa!" Tylor jumped out of the way of the snowball and threw it at Riku. His aim was skewed off and he missed dramatically when he felt a snowball impact with his shoulder mid-throw. Looking back, he saw Sora and Kairi holding snowballs of their own.

"Come on, Tylor!" Sora chided. "You gotta be aware of your surroundings in battle."

Tylor smirked. "I'll keep that in mind." He packed another snowball and picked it up, carrying it behind a tree with him. As the others ran for the tree to get him, he packed another snowball. As they came upon him, he stepped out and tossed both snowballs, hitting Sora in the stomach with one and Kairi in the leg with the other.

This continued for roughly five minutes. Tylor, of course, had more experience with the snow, so he gathered the most hits. That's not to say that he didn't get a good deal of snowballs hitting him as well, though. By the end, however, all three of them retreated back into the ship because it was cold outside. It was another ten minutes before they returned outside to investigate further.

"I don't get it," Sora mused. "Chip and Dale said they would send us to worlds that are disturbed. Snow is probably not normal here, but it's probably not unheard of."

"We should see if there's people around here," Tylor suggested. "If something weird is going on around here, they'll know it."

"Over there!" Kairi pointed into the distance. "Look!"

From atop the hill, they could see a larger hill that led downward towards a small town. It looked like a fishing town at first glance, but the snow was giving it a whole different look. Not wanting to get caught up in the cold, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Tylor ran to the twon.

There was a street of brick all around, but they could only tell after brushing aside some of the snow with their feet. It cushioned the ground so much that some of the kids were running around, playing in it. On either side of the stree, there were cubed houses, many with small vendors in front of them that sold various items, many of them fish.

"So who should we ask?" Riku wondered aloud.

"How about there?" Kairi pointed to a small magazine booth run by an elderly woman. Getting closer, they could see properly published books behind the counter as well. "Hello, ma'am," Kairi said politely "We're investigating something in town and...well, we want to know if you've seen anything weird lately."

The elderly women chuckled. "I'm guessing you've never been around here before, have you?" Kairi nodded in confirmation. "Well, the snow is as strange an occurrence as any. We get very little snow, even in winter. But it is spring and there is a larger amount of snow than I've seen in all my years."

Kairi turned to consult with her friends. "She says there's never been this much snow in her lifetime. And it's spring right now!"

"That's strange." Sora crossed his arms in thought. "Why would it snow so much? Especially in spring."

"Guys, this completely fits," Riku declared. "Remember the prophecy? '_Fires, blizzards, and lightning storms_'. That's what it said. I think the Element of Ice is in this world somewhere."

Kairi turned back to the woman and bowed her head gently. "Thanks for your help, Miss."

"No worries, dearie," the woman replied. They began to walk away, but the woman spoke again. "Before you keep poking around, I should warn you about the forest."

"What's in the forest?" Tylor asked.

"I don't know if they're related," the woman began. "But ever since the snow came, there have also been these creatures roaming around the forest. Black monsters with yellow eyes and claws. They have some sort of symbols on them too, like a cryptic heart shape of some sort."

Tylor turned to his friends, who nodded to cement their suspicions. "Okay. We'll be careful," Tylor assured the woman. "Thanks again!"

Despite the woman's warning, they knew that the forest was their destination. Heartless were clearly the source of terror in the town. They were drawn to strong hearts, especially one that would belong to a Keybearer. So if they were lurking inside of the forest, it would be obvious to find the second Elemental Keybearer inside.

As they approached the dense mass of trees, Tylor spoke up. "I don't think I ever asked: what are those black creatures?"

"Those are the Heartless," Sora answered, entering the forest first. "They're monsters made from the darkness in the hearts of people. They don't have hearts themselves, which is why they're called Heartless."

"Why would they be here?" Tylor asked.

"Heartless fear the Keyblade," Riku said. "So they'll go after the nearest one whenever they can. If one of the Elements is here, they're bound to get one soon, if they don't have one already."

The forest was dense and dark, an appearance only heightened by the snow, which made it cold as well. As they kept trekking through, the path seemed to get wider and wider. When they reached what appeared to be the end of it, they could see it splitting into four different directions.

"Four?" Tylor sighed. "Well, that's just great."

"We'll have to split up," Riku replied. "Try to keep your bearings. If you get lost, just find the path and follow it back.

"Alright." Sora started down the first path. "See you guys soon." The others followed his example. Kairi took the second path. Riku followed the third, leaving Tylor to find his own way down the fourth.

* * *

_CRUNCH._

The snow was noisy under the footsteps of a fifteen year-old boy. His black hair was a bit long, down to the middle of his neck. Hazel, a circle of brown amongst green in the iris, was the color that his eyes showed. His clothing consisted of a navy-blue sleeveless shirt with jeans and black tennis shoes. He, like Tylor, wore a symbolic necklace; his was in the shape of a complex-patterned snowflake.

He lifted the necklace briefly, looking at the symbol, then allowed it to drop. He lifted his hand, which began to become more pale until the power of winter circled his hand, embodied in the form of ice. The smooth crystals floated gracefully around his hand, waiting for a command from their master.

That's when he heard a crunch in the snow behind him and gave that very command. He spun and thrust his hand forward, firing an icy blast through the air just as a black creature with yellow eyes jumped into the air to attack him. In midair, the blast connected and created a small mist where the contact was made. The creature fell to the snow, frozen in a chunk of ice. With a sigh of relief, the boy stepped up and kicked the icy remains.

"I don't know how many weird monsters like you there are, but you're all really getting on my nerves," he said to the fallen creature in a firm, deep voice. He flexed his ice-generating fingers in curiosity. "Is it this?" he asked. "Are they chasing me because I can do this?"

**FLASHBACK**

Laying stomach-down on his bed, the boy stared absent-minded at the screen of a laptop computer. One hand was on the arrow keys directing falling blocks that he organized into rows, the object of the puzzle game he played, and the other was supporting his tilted head. "So bored...why can't I sleep?" he muttered lazily. With a grumble, he shut his laptop and and rolled off the bed to his feet. He stepped into his shoes and tied them before he walked out of his bedroom, down the hall, out the front door and into the front yard.

It was quiet, uneventful, and boring as ever on the streets of this suburb. His eyes traveled to the stars, looking at them for a few moments before he realized exactly what he was doing. He shook his head. "I get it, you're pretty," he said of the stars. "Still, you're just stars. There's not much to look at. I don't get why Tylor's such a huge fan of you guys. You're just going to glow in the sky, like you always-" His eyes were drawn back upward in time to see one shining particularly bright. "Oh...well, I guess you guys have a surprise for me tonight."

A moment later, the star that he watched ceased to light and vanished, leaving nothing but darkness in the spot where it had been. "Huh?" He blinked a few times. "Okay, that's new." Almost immediately after, he saw the fastest, darkest clouds he'd ever seen in his life blanket the sky. He looked immediately to his feet to see the ground quickly become shadowed, even in the night. "That's _definitely_ new!"

The street lights were the only light illuminating the street for a moment. However, the darkness was not something that simply passed over everyone without notice. Soon, lights of houses all the way down the street were coming on. These lights illuminated the air enough for the boy to be able to see the precipitation of the clouds: dark forms were being dropped, forms of flying fog.

"What's going on here!" The boy grabbed his own head in shock, breathing heavily. In the distance, he heard murmers of confusion, followed by loud screaming. In the city , less than a mile from where he was, he could see a cloud of fog forming around there and much damage being caused. Without a second thought, he ran back into his house. "Mom!" he yelled. "Dad?"

"Steven?" The boy's mother, a woman with a sandy brown tint of hair, opened up the door of a bedroom down the hall. "What's going on out there?"

"I don't know!" replied Steven. "Some black fog covered the sky and now it's covering the city too. I heard people screaming...I think they're being attacked!"

Steven's dad, a tall, slender man with thin brown hair peeked his head out and had listened to the whole thing. "Then we don't have a lot of time. We need to get out of here. Pack your stuff!"

In any other situation, Steven would have been prepared to do exactly that. Somehow, though...this felt different. "No," he said. "My friends are out there somewhere." He headed for the door again.

"Steven, are you crazy?" his dad yelled. "There is something dangerous out there. Bigger things are at risk!"

"I'll take the car, go get them, and come back!" Steven protested, opening the door. "I won't be long!"

"Hun, let's pack!" Steven's mom spoke up and motioned to her husband. "The more people we can save, the better. We don't have time to argue." Taking a short regretting glance at Steven, the father nodded and rushed back into the room while the mother stepped over to Steven. "Be careful, Steven." She kissed his forehead quickly, then turned and ran back to help his father pack.

Steven didn't squander, once given full permission, to grab the keys hanging by the door, get outside and hop into the car. He inserted a key into the ignition and started it up. He backed out into the street, then drove towards the city to investigate further and see if his friends were there. He could see a traffic jam ahead, so he sighed and drove as close as he could before parking the car on the roadside

As he stepped out, he could see the smoke-like fog covering the streets. He didn't take any steps toward it, instead scanning the small groups of people that were running away from it in hopes of catching glimpse of his friends.

While peeking into an alleyway, he heard something behind him. It made a low, menacing growl. Turning back, he took a firm stance to defend against what he saw: figures clearly composed of some of the fog. They stood about seven feet in height and were shrouded in the aura of black fire. They opened up their yellow eyes, which weren't even visible until now, and the fog extended, forming into claws.

Steven stepped back two steps, then ran down the alleyway. He could see the opening a good distance away and he was going to make sure to run at it as fast as he could. He dared once to look back and he could see them getting rearing back before they launchd themselves into the air, merging their lower bodies with the fog to fly after him.

"Aah!" In his sudden disadvantage, Steven tripped up and fell to the ground. He rolled over and started backing away. During his panicked retreat, he had a chance to look up at the creatures. One raised its arm to attack and struck down. Steven pushed himself with his feet to get away from the attack, then quickly stood up again. The three charged again, lifting their claws. Steven shielded his face with his arms and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his end.

He felt nothing come over him. He sustained no injury. The only sound he heard was the pavement in front of him shattering and a shriek from the first of the three creatures. He opened his eyes. Before he even moved his hand, he gasped at the fact that it was covered in a snow-like frost. When he moved his hand, he could see an icicle sticking through the chest of the first creature. The ice attack was dampening the dark fires, oddly enough.

With a roar, the second creature charged at him. Feeling a surge of cold in his arm, Steven pushed his hand forward and opened it up, sending a wave of cold over this adversary. Its fire was slowly diminished and sizzled out. He quickly forced the same attack at the third creature to weaken it as well.

Steven didn't know how he'd gotten this power and he didn't care. He was starting to feel a bit hazy after using it and he needed to get away from the creatures. He took a breath, then shoved his arms forward. A fine powder of frost formed and slammed into the three creatures, effectively freezing them over. Instinct overtook Steven and his legs began pounding the ground rapidly, steering him away.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Riku's shoes crunched the snow beneath his feet as he followed the pathway he walked. He kept his hands in his pockets to keep them warm, else he risk being able to use his Keyblade just because of icy fingers. Still, the rest of his body wasn't adequately sheltered. He sighed and his breath created a small cloud of mist before him. "It's days like this where having a coat would really help," he groaned.

The amount of trees surrounding him seemed to grow. Because of the sudden nature of the blizzard, many of the trees still had their leaves on them, despite the cold weather. Many of them were withering badly, since nature wasn't prepared for the arrival of what Riku suspected was the Elemental Keybearer of frost. The trees crowded and crowded, threatening to block Riku's path. Only when Riku squeezed through some particularly cramped trees did he come to open ground, covered in snow and fallen leaves with little else surrounding it.

Riku wouldn't have been suspicious of it at first, but while scanning the landscape with his eyes, he spotted a darker spot in the snow ahead. He went forward to investigate and he found that it was growing bigger. It amassed to about the size of a person, but kept growing. When Riku realized what it was, he jumped back and summoned his Keyblade.

From the hole, a dark hand emerged and slammed against the snow. Using that hand, it pulled itself upward. The next thing to reveal itself was the face of a Darkside Heartless that rose up from the ground. The hole of a heart in its stomach representing what it had without, it stood nearly fifty feet tall, staring down at Riku.

It formed a fist, holding it to its chest and gathered black and purple swirls of dark energy in it. Then he slammed it to the ground next to Riku. The energy now swirled on the ground, opening a way for Shadow Heartless to crawl out..

Riku was ignoring the cold now, completely focused on the battle. He held up his Keyblade and laughed. "They're throwing this Heartless at me like I just got this thing." He rushed forward, batting aside three Shadows in three quick hits, then turned and sliced into the Darkside's hand. A rumble told Riku that the monster had felt the strike. However, he didn't anticipate it to be so quick with a retaliation. It was barely two seconds before the other hand was brought up and swiped at him, sending Riku several feet back and landing in the snow.

Riku quickly got to his feet and shook his body free of the snow. "I spoke too soon," Riku admitted. "This thing must've come from a pretty good batch of Heartless." He stood his ground, preparing to fight again as the Darkside made a step towards him. It lifted its feet in small steps, advancing towards the Keybearer. Riku didn't have anywhere to run to escape the battle, only the option to fight it out.

The Darkside lifted its foot again, but as it came to the ground again, it encountered the obstacle of a few ice spikes coming out of the ground. It stepped right on them, then pulled its foot back in pain. It stumbled back clumsily, giving Riku plenty of time to stare in confusion as to what had just happened.

Steven smiled in satisfaction at his work when he saw the giant black creature stumbling away from the boy that it had been fighting it. He'd watched for a moment and he had to give that boy props for accomplishing what he did. Now, though, he wanted to get in on the action himself. Without further ado, he stepped out of the sidelines, out from behind the bushes he'd been hiding in, and rushed over to the boy. "Looks like you could use a hand."

The eyes of the other boy turned to quickly glance at Steven before he turned back to the battle. "I could. Doesn't mean I need to," the boy quipped. "Still, it'd be rude to hog the fight."

"How generous," Steven chuckled. "I'm Steven. Who're you?"

"Riku." Riku held up his Keyblade again. "And that thing looks like it's pretty angry at us."

Steven took a look at the face and the yellow eyes that were usually expressionless now narrowed at the two of them. "For the record, I think it's more angry at you. You stabbed its hand."

"You tripped it," Riku reminded. "You made it look stupid. It's _way_ angrier at you."

"As long as we're in it together." Steven bent his knees and tensed his muscles. He focused on the ground beneath Riku's feet. "You're going up!" he announced.

"Huh?" Riku was only able to get that single word out. Then next second, a column of ice had formed beneath his feet and was lifting up towards the Darkside. Standing balanced, he waited until he was high enough, then jumped. The Darkside tried to raise its hand to deflect Riku, but the Keybearer made a swift slash across its face. He fell quickly, though he stabbed the Keyblade into the Darkside's leg to slow himself.

He landed on his feet, then jumped further away to avoid an oncoming strike from the Darkside's hand. "That was pretty good!" he called over to Steven. "Got any more?"

"I think I have- GAH!" Steven was trying to focus, but the next second saw the Darkside closing its hand tightly around Steven and lifting him up. Steven's arms, were free, thankfully. "Hey! I hate heights!" Steven glared at the yellow eyes. His own eyes glowed a bright blue, though he payed little attention to it. "I said let GO!" He lifted his right fist and pounded on the Darkside's arm. Another spike of ice formed where he had punched and a path was formed that led all the way up the monster's arm, causing it to fight the pain.

Seeing it weaken, Steven pulled at the ice that covered the monster's arm to pull himself free of the wavering hand. He managed to crawl onto the arm and grab hold of the ice. However, the one he held shone with light similar to the way his eyes did a few moments ago. "What the-?" It flashed and cracked off. "Aaaaaah!" Steven fell from the Darkside and was quickly headed towards the ground. He held out his hand and materialized a platform of ice for himself to land on, just a few feet above the ground. After landing roughly on that, he slid off and took a deep breath.

Riku stared at Steven, his eyes widened a bit in surprise, but then a smile replaced the shock. "How convenient. I found you."

"Huh? What're you..." Steven lost his train of thought when his nerves calmed, telling him that he held something in his right hand. A circular frame surrounding a handle of steel inside it. Hanging from a short chain was a snowflake, just like the one Steven wore around his neck. From the handle, a large pole made of ice extended three feet. Ice spouted out from the end of the pole, forming the teeth of a key.

The words _Frozen Storm_ echoed within Steven's mind. "Huh? Who said that?" He turned back and forth, then took another look at the weapon in his hands. In his curiosity, Riku had to snap him back into reality because the Darkside was looming over him.

"Behind you!" Riku urged. "Use the Keyblade!"

"Keyblade?" Steven took a second look at the weapon and sure enough, the thing he held definitely held some resemblance to a key. He gripped the handle with both hands and held it out. The snow around him began to shudder, peeling from the earth and gathering at his blade. His eyes glowed a bright blue again. "Take THIS!" he yelled. He swung the Keyblade in a circle around him. More snow flew to his aid, gathering into a frosty tornado that he proceeded to fling at the Darkside. As it went towards the best, it gathered more from the snowy terrain, adding to its already impressive stature.

The Darkside stumbled back from the mass of spiraling snow, which only continued to grow until it was about half the height of the monster it attacked. It pushed forcefully at the legs of the beast, causing it to wobble violently, waving its arms while trying to keep its balance. The entire time, the tornado continued to grow and push harder until finally, the Darkside was sent off-center enough to begin collapsing to its back.

"Whoo!" Steven cheered, breathing heavily from exhaustion. "That's how it's done!"

Riku saw the opening and he ran towards it. He waited for the fullest impact to be made, shaking the ground, and immediately jumped. The trembling terrain propelled him high enough to reach what would be the Darkside's chest. Silently, he pulled out his Keyblade, held it firmly in both hands, and stabbed downward, piercing through its chest. It shuddered quickly, then went very still. Riku pulled away his weapon and hopped back to the ground. He walked towards Steven, not even looking back as the monster vanished behind him.

Steven, on the contrary, couldn't take his eyes off the Darkside as it began to dissolve away in misshapen specks of darkness, even more so as the giant heart emerged from it. He tilted his head upward so his eyes could follow it. He didn't pay attention to his leaning and wound up falling onto the ground, which was now empty of snow. "Ow!" He tried getting back up, but it was a great strain on himself. He looked up at Riku and chuckled. "Without the snow, this ground hurts a lot more."

Riku snickered briefly as well, then held out his hand. Steven gratefully took it and relished in being pulled to his feet. "You okay?" Riku asked.

Steven nodded. "I'll be fine." He took a step forward, but winced again from his sparse amount of strength. "Things might go a little slowly, though."

"I don't blame you," Riku replied. "That attack took a lot out of you."

"Yeah," Steven agreed. "Now that we have some down time, I want to know: What were you talking about? You said you 'found me'. Am I super-important for some reason?" He held up the icy Keyblade that had formed during the battle. "You have one of these too. Do you have a club of people who can use these or something?"

"One at a time," Riku said, holding up his hand to silence Steven before he went overboard on questions. "Yes, it makes you important, but I'll tell you later. I think you should take it easy for a while until you can recover."

"Aw, come on!" Steven complained. "I'm guessing we're going to be here for a bit, so why not just-"

"We've got to rendezvous with the others," Riku interrupted. "You're going to need most of your strength for walking."

* * *

"Nothing."

Sora followed his path back to where it had began, having trekked the whole thing and come back with no clues whatsoever. "Absolutely nothing." He looked over to the other three openings, waiting to see if his friends would return with better luck than him.

Kairi was the next to emerge from the forest, seeing Sora. "Nothing?"

"Except the occasional Heartless," Sora replied. "You?"

"The same." Kairi sighed. "You think we came here for nothing?"

"We can't have," Sora assured. "If there's this much snow in a tropical place, there's not many other explanations for it. The Element of Ice has to be here." He lifted his head when he heard footsteps and looked down another path, seeing the third figure rejoin them. "Hey, Tylor. Find anything?"

Tylor shook his head. "Nothing about the Element," he said, curiously happy. He held up his Keyblade and swung it a couple of times. "But I got to practice a little more. This thing is so cool!" This drew a few chuckles from Sora and Kairi. "So you guys didn't find anything?" They shook their heads. "I hope Riku's having more luck."

"Maybe we should go down his path," Kairi suggested. "He's been so long and he might be trouble."

"Or he's had some luck," Sora suggested. "And maybe we'll meet him on the way."

"No need to strain yourselves."

The call from down the path alerted the three and their eyes widened in surprise. They could see two human-sized forms walking towards them. One of them was clearly Riku. The other one followed behind Riku, taking long steps that seemed to be very careful, as if he was in pain.

"What do you know?" Tylor mused. "It looks like he's had a lot of luck. He found...Wait..." He narrowed his eyes as the two came closer and the second boy became more clear. Tylor's eyes opened up wide in massive shock. "Holy crap!"

The boy looked up to see the reaction and his eyes seemed to burst out of his head as well. "Tylor?"

"Steven!" Tylor yelled, sprinting into the clearing. Riku sidestepped in time for Tylor to run up and hug Steven in rushed excitement. It was a very tight one, as a strained expression crossed Steven's face.

"Tylor!" Steven groaned, his voice raspy. "Loosen up! I've had a rough day!"

Tylor let go immediately, placing his hands on Steven's shoulder. "Sorry. But dude! I can't believe you're alive!"

"I can't believe _you're_ alive!" Steven answered with a laugh. "You wouldn't believe what's happening to me right now."

"Oh really?" Tylor challenged. "If I guessed that your powers led you to get a Keyblade in the midst of battle and then you did a big attack that killed a big bunch of Heartless, would I be right?"

Steven's mouth dropped open. "That...was just unfair. How'd you know that?"

Tylor held up his own Keyblade. "It happened to me too!"

"No way!" Steven lifted his hand. "High-five!" He and Tylor slapped their hands together in triumph. "Now I just have a question: what the heck did you just say? What's a Keyblade? What are Heartless?"

They entered a long discussion with Steven to fill him in on the previous events. His questions about the Heartless and the Keyblade were answered first. Then they began to explain what little they knew of the dangers that they faced this time and about the prophecy of the Elements.

"And our world was swallowed by those things?" Steven repeated back. He was confirmed by the other four with a nod. "Whoa...can we bring it back?

"I think so," Sora assured. "A similar thing happened when the Heartless first swallowed the heart of our world. But when we defeated the source, the worlds were restored. I think yours will be too."

"So there might be a chance?" Steven asked hopefully.

"This is a new force entirely," Riku warned. "We don't know what they might do."

"Then it's clear, isn't it?" Steven turned to face Tylor. "We've got to find Tim."

"Tim?" Tylor replied. "Why would he-" He paused, then gasped. "Yeah...You're right!"

"Who's Tim?" Kairi wondered.

"My brother" Tylor informed. "He was with us when our world was destroyed. The three of us got separated after that."

"He wears a necklace like ours," Steven added. "In the shape of a lit fire."

"You mentioned Steven and Tim before, Tylor," Riku observed. "Why do you all have these necklaces?"

"We don't know," Tylor replied. "We were given them when we were ten. Our parents just said '_We sensed that they'd fit you_'."

"Maybe they knew of your destiny," Sora suggested. "That's not much of a coincidence."

"He's the Element of Fire," Kairi asked. "So what do we look for?"

"We look for a world that's burning to the ground," Tylor decided.

"That sounds like Tim," Steven agreed with a snicker. Tylor laughed along with him and they high-fived again.

Sora laughed a bit too at their behavior. "Well, you guys ready to go?"

"Hell yeah!" the two newest Keybearers chanted in unison.

They all got to their feet and began the stroll to the Gummi Ship, where no doubt Steven would have the same reaction of awe that Tylor had displayed when he first saw the magnificent vessel. Following their departure from Neeva, their journey for the third and final Element would begin.

* * *

**C.A/N: This is the Co-Author's note, J0hnny0hm. I would like to say that I am incredibly sorry that an update for this story took so long. I took forever to edit it all together and that is not excusable. I hope the chapter is enjoyable enough to make up for it.**


	6. Flaming Brotherhood

While the Gummi Ship zoomed through space, Tylor found himself transfixed by the stars that were passing them at rapid paces. From the ground in his home world, they stayed stationary, gleaming brightly. Now there were hundreds of them passing by in the ship, in full view.

Steven looked out beside him, staying silent. Then he shook his head. "I still don't get why you love looking at them so much," he quipped. He turned away, stepping more into the cockpit to speak with the other three Keybearers that had just finished collecting him. "So, tell me a little bit about yourselves, you three. We'll probably work together once we know each other better. It can be awkward with strangers, you know?"

"I hear you," Kairi stated. "But Tylor seems to be doing just fine."

"Well, there's Tylor in a nutshell," Steven said. "He's pretty easy-going. I am too, but I just need a little more than that. Don't take it personal, though. I do this with everyone."

"Alright," Sora accepted with a nod. "So what do you want to know?"

"Well..." Steven tapped his chin for a moment. "I would first like to know who you are and what your story has been up until now."

"Well, Steven," Sora began, "I'm Sora. I'm fifteen and I love to race, fight Heartless, and travel to other worlds. It works out, I guess, because I get to do all those things while saving the worlds. As for my story..." Sora's expression grew briefly solemn, but he kept a fair tone. "One night my world was swallowed by the Heartless. The experience left me with this." He then held out his hand, where his Keyblade materialized. "I was taken to another world, where I met Donald and Goofy..."

* * *

"...and then we were sent a letter by King Mickey to go out and find the Elemental Keybearers. Now we're here, having found two of them: you and Tylor."

"I see..." Steven nodded his head, sighing. "That's some story, Sora. So...back in action, huh?"

"Sadly, yeah..." Sora sighed. "I don't mind traveling, but there's always a threat...sometimes, I wish the worlds could just stay saved a little while, you know?"

"Oh, totally!" Steven agreed. "You're like a superhero, man. Even superheroes need a break, right?" He lifted his hands. "But I digress. I guess Tylor and I are superheroes now...and that's pretty cool!" He pointed to Kairi. "Your story, m'lady?"

Kairi giggled at his polite gesture, then cleared her throat. "Well, my name is Kairi. I'm fifteen years old. I spend a lot of my time getting these two weirdos out of trouble-" She ignored the curt glances she received from Sora and Riku. "-and also shopping."

Tylor broke from his trance to join in the collective sigh from every man in the room. "Shopping..." they groaned.

Kairi glared at all of them "Hey, what's wrong with me with me wanting to shop?"

"Nothing, Kairi," Riku replied. "Nothing would be wrong with it if you didn't want to do it so much. If it were up to me, you'd be attending weekly meetings at Shopalics Anonymous."

"I'll do it!" Steven replied, raising his hand. "I'm a great negotiator!" He sat down in one of the co-pilot chairs, clearing his throat and speaking in a Southern accent. "Now then, Kairi, you've got to remember that these people are your friends; they all care about you and want to help you." Steven remained very serious, but the extent this was being taken to was causing Kairi to break out in abundant, silent laughter. Sora and Riku held it in, though the smiles on their faces were wrinkled in the process. "Now, Tylor, you speak first." Tylor stepped forward, sniffling as if to cry. "Be strong, Tylor. Tell her how you feel."

Tylor took a breath, looking at the girl. "Kairi...I may not have known you long, but that doesn't mean I don't hate to see you go down this road. Remember when we used to just run around, climb the monkey bars, and just have a good old time? No? Well, that's because when we could be doing that, you were shopping! You don't even consider the things that we could be doing together if you put down your credit card for even one day! Shopping possesses you like a demon would an innocent child. I don't want to lose you, Kairi, but you're turning into a monster!" Tylor yelled the last sentence with an enhanced dramatic tone.

The wrinkled smiles infected all inhabitants of the room. Moments later, the sound of giggling was filling the ship like no other, with Sora and Riku clutching their stomachs and rolling around from the sheer violence of their laughter. Kairi couldn't display the sour face she wanted to show because she was too busy laughing.

Steven slapped his knee, looking at the floor and shaking his head. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "Oh man, Tylor. That...was beautiful," Steven complimented. "For not knowing Kairi well...how did you get that ready?"

Tylor shrugged with a smile. "It just comes to me."

Riku suppressed his laughter, gaining his calm again, then gave a few soft claps for the performance he had just witnessed. "Yeah, you guys are going to fit in just fine."

"Indeed!" Kairi replied. "I mean, sure, you're dorks, but I think you'd fit in fine with our friends. Acting like that, school must not have been easy." Kairi's statement was followed by some silence and brief frowns from both Steven and Tylor

"That was a downer," Steven observed.

"We were actually pretty well-loved at our school," Tylor answered. "People gravitate to 'dorks' more than you know."

Kairi flushed, feeling bashful of her assumption. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way..."

"Since we just met, we'll let it slide," Steven said. Desiring to break the tension, he nodded. "So! Riku, we haven't heard your story."

Riku bit his lip a bit, careful of what he would tell Steven and Tylor. "Well, I'm sixteen years old. I can't tell you too much about my story that these guys haven't told already. Let's just say that the path my story took was a bit skewed compared to these two."

Tylor raised an eyebrow, sensing some hesitation in Riku's speech. Having just witnessed some rash statement from Kairi, he didn't wish to create more tension in this discussion. "Alright, Riku," he accepted. "Now that this is settled...where are we headed?"

"Don't know yet," Sora informed. He pointed to a sonar on the dashboard of the Gummi Ship. "That device should tell us if we come upon a world with an extreme disturbance."

"A disturbance in the Force?" Tylor said sarcastically

Sora sighed gently and shook his head. "No, just a disturbance. Probably something related to a firestorm. Fire is the only Element that we haven't found a Keybearer to match."

"And that's Tim?" Steven asked.

"If what you tell us is true, then it should be," Riku agreed. "In the meantime, it might be some time before we find anything. We should get some rest. We'll need our energy for when we get there."

* * *

In the two cockpit seats, Riku and Kairi rested happily and calmly. Sora, meanwhile, stayed up front at the ship to keep watch, in case anything might endager the ship. Staring off into the vastness of the space before him, he was only broken from his trance when he felt a tug on his hair. "What the-?" Sora looked up.

Steven let go. "Sorry. I had to see if it was real. Those spikes are insane, Sora."

"Why aren't you asleep?" Sora asked.

"We're not tired." Tylor stepped from behind Steven, waving down at Sora. "Plus, you could say that we're curious."

"What do you mean?" Sora tilted his head in confusion.

"Well...be honest," Steven said. "How do you feel about Kairi?"

Sora's cheeks grew warm, but he didn't falter. "She's my best friend," he stated. "Aside from Riku," he added quickly.

"Just a best friend?" Tylor asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sora cheeks were still red, reddening more. "W-what do you mean by that?" he stammered.

"How much do you like Kairi?" Tylor asked. "Simple question."

"Answer the question," Steven demanded gently. "We'll leave you alone once you do."

Sora thought carefully of his answer. "Well, she's been one of my best friends for a really long time. I care about her a lot, if that's what you're asking."

"Doesn't answer my question," Tylor answered with a shaking head.

"I think it might, Tylor," Steven suggested, nodding. "You guys are good friends and we get that. That's perfectly alright. I wouldn't blame you, though. I think she'll find a good man in her life."

"Oh, of course she will," Tylor affirmed.

"What do you mean 'of course she will'?" Sora asked, slightly defensive.

"Well Sora, look at her!" Steven whispered, keeping his voice down, observing that the other two occupants of the ship were asleep. Sora's eyes turned to Kairi, curled up in the chair and smiling. "She ain't bad looking, is she, Sora? Guys are gonna be all over her when the time comes. It might be soon, in fact." He shrugged, smiling. "Good for her. I thought you'd have a problem with that, but I guess it doesn't matter, since you're just friends, right?"

Without further statement, Steven and Tylor walked away, leaving Sora in the cockpit. They kept just outside, in the hallway. "Think it worked?" Tylor whispered in his friend's ear.

Steven looked back at Sora, then held up a few fingers. "Three...two...one..." Shortly after 'one', Sora clenched a fist softly, sighed deeply and bowing his head. "That answer your question?"

"Yeah, but they are in denial," Tylor pointed out. "Looks like it's time to bring in the experts!"

"You read my mind, man!" Steven said excitedly. "So who did we get?"

Tylor stared silently at Steven for a few seconds. Then he punched him in the shoulder. "We're the experts, idiot!"

"Ow!" Steven rubbed his shoulder, then his eyes widened in realization. "Oooh, right..."

"It's up to us, Steven," Tylor declared. "We must guide them along the path to get them to begin the phases."

"Phases?" Steven shrugged. "I don't know what you're-"

"You know!" Tylor interrupted. "The phases that all couples go through in shows when they're in denial. It's like they've been pulled straight out of some story or anime made by the Japanese."

Steven looked at Tylor with a perplexed stare. "Tylor, you really should hear yourself. That's just ridiculous to even think. This is real life, not a story pulled from a video game."

Though they were planning to continue their discussion, a small beeping noise flared to life. "iApproaching world disturbance in five minutes,/i" the computer dictated.

They both returned the to bridge at once. Riku and Kairi had already been abruptly awakened and were now awake; only slightly, but they were alert.

"What have we got?" Riku asked.

Sora looked at the computer, tapping a key to pull up information of the world. "This world is called Iglacian. It's covered in a wide landscape of ice."

"That can't be right," Tylor denounced, pointing at his friend. "Steven is right here."

"The planet is supposed to be covered in ice, Tylor," Sora said. "We're looking for what's not normal here." He checked for what the disturbance was. One area of the planet has experienced a rapid melting in its ice caps, creating a small lake."

"Fire could melt the ice quickly," Riku noted.

"Tim has to be somewhere near there, then!" Tylor confirmed.

The ship began to descend down into the planets atmosphere. The ship landed on top of an ice mountain near the ocean of water. They all stepped out of the ship.

"It's freezing!" Kairi observed plainly, huddling into herself to warm up.

Sora began to trek down the mountain of ice, brushing his arms. "Then let's hurry and find the last Elemental Keybearer. Then we can get out of here!"

* * *

Freezing water surrounded a blonde-haired boy, who swam with depleting vigor. The piece of land he pulled himself onto was cold, but at least it was solid enough to support him in the midst of this vast ocean. He peered over the side of the slab, his blue eyes feeling like they were frozen open. His hair hung down just above his shoulders as he stared. He forced himself over and down upon the ice slab as he shivered further. Without any further hesitation, he held out his hand. Willing it to happen, he conjured up a ball of fire in his palm. Once this happened, he felt his body warm instantly, feeling the will to breath normally again.

"Tim, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

**FLASHBACK**

Staring up at the ceiling of his room, Tim sighed. The silence of the night was painful. He sat up and stared out at the city, unable to sleep. With a heavy sigh, he stepped out of bed. Might as well do something if sleep wouldn't come to him. He got dressed and quietly made his way downstairs.

Shutting the front door behind him carefully, Tim began to walk casually during the warm night. He looked up at the sky to admire the scenery. The dark sky, though signaling night on the world, was an especially interesting time, as it provided a good view at times. Tonight, stars were out aplenty, despite the presence of thick, swirling, purple clouds.

He did a double-take. "Purple clouds?" He rubbed his eyes and looked again to prove to himself that it was only a hallucination. When he looked again, however, he found this a very hard thing to prove. "What's going on here?"

So far, he had only mild shock and no reason to truly panic. It was when he heard loud screams, and many of them, coming from the city. Purple fog in the same guise of the clouds came into view, spreading through the city. A moment of shock overcame Tim, a moment that forced him into a sprint back towards his house to warn his family.

He flung open the door violently, slamming it against the wall when he entered. "Mom? Dad? Tylor?" No answer. He yelled out. "Mom! Dad! Tylor! Guys!" _Where are they_? he pondered. _Did they already get out? Maybe they went to the city..._

Tim bolted out of the house again and ran towards the city, curious as to what was going on. When he approached, however, he saw other people running out frantically. He got to the side to get out of their way. The streets were becoming congested with the number of people running. No entrance was possible.

Behind a group of running people, a small explosion arose. It wasn't an explosion of fire, but ice. Frost began to cover the ground where a few people had been. They were now scattered, hit by the blast. Tim waited for the small bit of fog created by the explosion to vanish, giving him view of a new threat.

At least ten yards ahead, Tim saw three humanoid creatures, standing as tall as he did and with the same number of appendages. They differed in one rather obvious way: they were made of ice. Fate seemed to have it out for him, as the creatures ran for him immediately. He instinctively rushed to find a hiding place. He could hear each icy crunch of a step taken by the monsters as they chased him.

Were it not for the alleyways that Tim used as shortcuts, he would have fallen to these beasts immediately. He weaved and navigated between them and he smiled when he heard the crunches of icy footsteps begin to grow more faint. However, this luck ceased when he ran into a dead-end alley.

When Tim turned back to head a different way, he flinched and backed away. The three ice creatures were closing in, backing him into the corner that was this alleyway. One charged and backed away, holding out his arms in defense. He closed his eyes and waited.

He felt his hands suddenly grow hot, to which he opened his eyes and saw the arm of the first creature melted. Confused, Tim looked to his hand, seeing a circle of fire surrounding it. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. Alas, time to think was shortened for him at the moment when the other two charged. He sidestepped one, which ran into the wall.

The other lunged and Tim held up his hand. It was only an instinct, but the fire flowed from his hand and hit the monster square in the chest. That was enough to topple the melting beast to the pavement, defeated. Tim didn't wait to give the third a chance to rise. He thrust his hand downward, blasting its head to liquid with the fire. With all his immediate enemies incapacitated, he ran past them to resume the search for his family.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Tim keep walking between two mountains of ice. He looked at his hand, flames framing each of his fingers as well as his palm. "Why is this happening?" he asked himself.

THUMP.

A firm thump caused Tim to stagger where he stood. When he regained his balance, he looked behind him. Another giant creature made of ice was upon him. Its toes were spiked to dig into the solid ground beneath it. The two hands flexed icy fingers, sharp as the toes were. The creature was at least twenty feet tall.

"You got to be kidding me..." Tim groaned in disbelief. The creature pointed its arm at him, shooting the sharp ice blades that were its fingers in his direction. Tim turned and jumped, sliding across the ice to dodge the attack. The fingers regenerated so that they could shoot more projectiles at Tim, which he had to roll away to avoid. When he got back to his feet, he spotted some dark creatures flanking the monster, creatures with yellow eyes and black bodies. They twitched a bit, advancing towards him.

Despite his newfound power, Tim knew this may be too much. He turned tail and rain. As he ran, he took occasional moments to slide across the ice, trying to increase his lead on them. He slowed up in time to see a cave ahead, which he headed towards. Before he got to the entrance, one of the black creatures suddenly lunged. Tim could see it up close. "Ahh!" he screamed. Suddenly, a blur went through the creature and eliminated it. Just to his left was a boy holding a strange weapon in the shape of a large key.

"Tylor?" Tim blinked and rubbed his eyes, having a hard time comprehending the presence of his brother in front of him.

Tylor nodded to him, then ushered him back. "Let me handle this." More Heartless came against Tylor, who swung his Keyblade in reaction, sidestepping before delivering several powerful blows. It had a hint of overkill to it, but it got the job done. "Guys, into the cave!"

Tim suddenly found himself in the company of a few more people. Of the four that headed into the cave with him and Tylor, only one was a familiar face. "Hey, Steven," he greeted, glancing back at the advancing ice monster. "How's life been?"

"Well, me and Tylor just became superheroes," Steven informed, summoning his own Keyblade to show Tim. "Don't be too alarmed, but I think you're going to get one of these in a little bit here.

THUMP. THUMP.

The ice creature was growing closer, stomping and clawing into the ground with its feet. Tim turned, preparing to make use of his fire powers. "Run around it!" he declared, shooting a fireball at it. It singed the shoulder of the monster, causing it to shriek. The others took that opportunity to dash past it. Tim slid underneath, between its legs, and got up to shoot another fireball. It turned in agony, then began to stomp towards Tim. "No, get _back_!" Tim yelled, thrusting both his hands forward.

A large column of fire erupted from Tim's hands and blasted the creature deep into the cave, melting it into water before it even made impact with a wall. Amidst the column, Tim felt something taking form in his hand. He grasped a handle of some sort and pulled his hands free, letting the column go its course. He looked at the newfound weapon in his hand, a Keyblade just like what Steven and Tylor had. Except this one was practically on fire. An orange glow surrounded the deep red and orange and small flame charm hung from the end. In his head, the name _Firestorm_ echoed within his head, the name of the weapon.

"Whoa..." Tim lifted the charm, then lifted the necklace in the shape of a lightning bolt around his neck. They were identical. He looked up "Holy-!"

"What did I say about getting alarmed?" Steven spoke up with a warning tone in his voice.

"Not this!" Tim pointed to deeper recesses of the cave. "That!" He turned tail and ran to get out of the cave, to the confusion of the others. But with the silence came the sudden awareness of rumbling in the cave. The fire had melted some of the unstable parts of the structure and they were now getting a glimpse of the caving collapsing from the inside.

"Run!" Sora shouted. No one paused to think on that for a second. They just followed Tim's example and bolted towards the entrance of the cave. Steven summoned his Keyblade on the way out, preparing. When the entrance was upon them, he pointed back and allowed his ice powers to flow into his Keyblade. It created a thick wall of ice that stuck to the walls, blocking the incoming avalanche Tim had accidentally created. As he stepped back, he created even ice to block it. "That won't hold for long," he warned, running to catch up with his team. We'd better go now."

* * *

Tim walked in silence after that experience. He deeply exhaled, allowing the built up shock to be relieved, at least a little bit. "So...superhero, you say?" He twirled the Keyblade, getting a feel for how to use it. "With fire powers?"

"You know what that means?" Tylor spread his arms and headed for his brother. "Hero hug!"

"No," Tim deadpanned, immediately walking away from his affectionate brother.

Tylor dropped his arms to his sides. "Even when we are happily reunited..." Steven patted Tylor's shoulder reassuringly. "I'll get a hug from him someday, I swear."

Tim turned back to Tylor. "I have other things on my mind, okay?" he informed. "What's going on here?" He pointed to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "Who are these people?" He held up the Keyblade. "And what is this? Explain, please!"

"Well, Tim, that's a lot of explaining," Tylor admitted with a shrug.

"We'll tell you all about it on the way to the ship," Steven promised, trudging through the snow and ice.

"The ship?" Tim exclaimed, following. "This is nuts..."

* * *

"So if we destroy whatever this evil is that's destroying worlds, our home world will be saved?" Tim asked, having just heard the entire story of Keyblades, the Elements, the Heartless, and other such tales that Sora was getting tired of telling people.

"We can only hope," Sora stated. "But it's worked for me and many other worlds. It's only a matter of time before we save them all." He pointed ahead. "There's our ship. We're going to fly to-"

Sora's words were halted by a thud of a pair of feet on top of the ship. A figure in dark clothing, a cloak, stood atop the metal flying contraption. All six of the Keybearers summoned their weapons in anticipation. The figure hopped down from the ship and crouched as it landed in the snow. Getting up to stand erect, it stepped towards them slowly.

A fight was ahead, that was for sure.

* * *

**Co-A/N: I, the co-author, would like to apologize heavily for my lack of work. The chapter has been 'done' for past several months, only requiring my editing. I'm sorry we left any fans of this story hanging with over a year of not updating this story. I will do my utmost to make sure that does not happen again. Chapter 7 is currently in production.**


	7. One Bad Family Reunion

The brisk winter wind brushed the skin of the group of teens standing in the snow. The cryptic figure walked towards them. His actual height seemed irrelevent due to his towering perspective from where he stood. They gripped their Keyblades in anticipation, prepared to defend themselves.

"Show yourself," Riku calmly demanded.

The figure paused for a moment, leapt down to stand a few yards from the group, and removed the hood, revealing a male face. He stood at about six feet, slightly shorter than Steven. His face was scarred on the left side with a cut reaching from below his eye down to his jaw. He had buzzed hair and his eyes were a dark brown.

"What do you want?" Riku said as he raised his Keyblade protectively.

The man grinned. "Hey now, calm down. No need to get angry. I just want to talk."

"I highly doubt that," Riku replied, his weapon still ready for an attack.

"You don't fool easy," the man observed. "Then again, I wouldn't expect you to be. Given your history with the darkness, I guess you'd have to be used to betrayal."

Riku looked stunned. "How did you-?"

"Know about you?" Hey laughed in a warm, yet sinister fashion. "I know about all of you! Sora, the magnificent savior of the worlds!" He raised his voice in excitement. "Kairi, the wonderful Princess of Heart!" He finished by pointing off at Steven, Tim, and Tylor. "And the newest members of the Keyblade club, the Elemental Keybearers."

"Huh?" Tylor looked to Tim at his left. "How does he know?"

"Why're you asking me?" Tim replied. "I just got these powers! What do you think, Steven?"

Steven didn't reply. His gaze was fixated on the individual, squinting in thought. "He looks familiar," he said more to himself than the others. He stepped towards the man to get a closer look. A pleased smirk crossed the face of the man and Steven felt his mind on the edge of something important.

Finally, he asked. "Who are you?"

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "My new look is confusing you?" He let out a more maniacal laugh, then pointed to his scar. "For a knife may cut your skin…"

Steven's eyes shot wide open "But a blade will never graze your spirit," he finished. "Iecho!"

The opposing teen held out his arms, proudly gesturing to himself. "You got it right, cousin."

"Cousin?!" Sora shouted in disbelief, followed by gasps from the others.

"Iecho, what happened to you?" Tylor asked.

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Iecho scoffed, clenching his fists. "About time someone gave a crap about what's happening to me." He pointed a finger firmly at Steven. "You especially."

Sora turned to face Steven, as did the others. "What's he talking about?"

Steven looked at Sora, his eyes a bit nervous. He couldn't muster the courage to speak up before Iecho cut him off. "Doesn't matter anymore," Iecho growled. "The past is behind me. All that matters is the future and I've been given tools to build that future for myself...and you can too." He held an open hand in Steven's direction. "You can put the past behind you too. Join me and you will be forgiven for abandoning me."

The Keybearers turned to Steven. Riku, Kairi, and Sora had similar though processes, hoping dearly that Steven did not switch sides as Iecho was attempting to make him do. Tim and Tylor were looking upon the scene with slight regret in their faces, knowing a little about the tension between the two cousins and where the accusations of abandonment came from.

Steven, meanwhile, looked the most conflicted. This was his cousin before him, that was for sure. Despite the harsh tones he was delivering, he was also offering redemption for an act that had previously been deemed unforgivable.

"This...future you say you're going to create...you mentioned tools." Steven looked more directly at Iecho, curiosity filling him. "Who gave those tools to you?"

Iecho beamed proudly, then uttered plainly. "A very powerful woman named Maleficent."

"No..." Riku muttered, gripping his Keyblade and lifting it up further.

"Don't you shun her name, Riku!" Iecho growled accusingly. "She is the one that found me in the ruins of my lost world. She brought me back to health and gave me these powers! She did the same for you once, you ungrateful little..." His words were lost, giving way to angry breathing instead, seething with the building rage.

"And look at me now." Riku held his Keyblade over his head, prepared to attack. "I'm over here instead. You've chosen the wrong side, Iecho."

Iecho shook his head softly. "Figures," he muttered. "I knew you three from Destiny Islands would basically be uncrackable. But you three?" He motioned to Steven, Tim, and Tylor. "I would've thought a friend, family to boot, would've swayed you."

Tim and Tylor summoned their Keyblades. Reluctantly, Steven followed suit. The three took battle stances against him, making it a six-on-one fight.

"You're outnumbered, Iecho," Steven pointed out. "We don't have to do this, though. I'm sorry for what happened back then, but you don't have to take this road."

Iecho shook his head, chuckling cruelly. "I wouldn't still be on this path if I didn't want to be." He held out his arm to his side. "You've got the numbers, but I've been given greater power." Purple smoke swirled around Iecho's hand, forming a sword-length cloud before vanishing, leaving a weapon in its wake: a Keyblade. His Keyblade was pitch-black, spotted with orange and with three very spiky points on the blade end of the weapon.

"What?!" This cry of shock was murmured by each member of the group, almost simultaneously.

Sora tilted his head a bit, but stayed wary. "Is everybody in the universe getting a Keyblade now?"

"Best not start rolling your eyes, Sora!" Iecho called over to them, his voice practically shrieking with confidence. He held out his free hand and it began to crackle with lightning, colored red and black. "You see, I'm in a club all my own!" He shoved his hand forward, launching the lightning at the group.

"Holy-!" Tylor yelped before he ducked to the right, letting the lightning fly past him. The others flinched noticeably, putting a smirk on Iecho's face. He gathered more lightning and fired it at the ice beyond him. The energy crackled through the ice and cracked it, causing the ground to rumble beneath them.

"Enough is enough!" Riku charged through the cracking ice at Iecho, dodging the cracks as much as he could. Iecho held a hand at his waist, waiting. Once Riku reached about ten feet away from him, Iecho raised his arm. Riku advanced and struck forward, only to be met with one of the slabs of ice that had broken beneath them.

"What the-?" Before Riku's reaction could finish a sentence, Iecho swung his blade, creating a gust that pushed the slab of ice into Riku and shoved him to the cracked surface of the ground to slide away from him.

As Riku was pushed back by the sheet of ice, Kairi was making her way in on Iecho, Sora behind her. Iecho lifted his blade to intercept Kairi's, catching her blade on the end of his. Holding her blade in a lock with his, Iecho tugged Kairi towards him, smirked at her, then used another gust of wind to shove her back. Kairi tumbled into Sora, sending them both back to the slippery ground.

Tim and Tylor advanced together. Tylor struck the ground, causing a wave a lightning to travel towards Iecho, who leapt across the wave onto calmer ground.

"Now!" Tylor called.

"Huh?" Tim looked to Tylor. "Oh! Uh..." He held up his Keyblade, still barely used to doing anything with the weapon. He swung and the blade seemed to teem a little with flame, but it was week and the sparks that broke from the blade were small and scattered.

Iecho could see Tim attempting to work the magic of the Keyblade and laughed. He advanced on Tim and swung, putting Tim on the defensive with simple swordplay. "Well, this flame fanned out pretty quick!" Then he launched a gust of wind straight into Tim's chest, launching him back at his brother and toppling them both over.

"Ugh..." Tim rolled painfully onto his side, looking over. "Tylor?"

"I'm fine...mostly." His brother rolled to face him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tim replied. "You cushioned my fall."

Tylor shot him a brief glare for this comment before standing up and cautiously approaching Iecho. "Let's take him up close, blade to blade."

Iecho shook his head gently at Tylor's intentions, then held out his other hand. Tylor took a defensive stance, but Iecho didn't fire any more magic. Instead, a second Keyblade appeared in his hand, identical to the other one. "This should be fun."

He walked calmly towards the two as they ran at him. Tylor and Tim aimed for each of Iecho's sides. Iecho held his blades up a bit lazily, but stood firm as their blades made contact. He shoved them away and doubled back, causing them to swipe through the space he'd just occupied. He freed a few fingers and used a weak gust of air to kick up some snow before attacking. The two managed to deflect his strikes, despite the limited visibility.

The twins gave each other a quick glance as they felt the pressure of his blades bearing down upon them. With a quick nod, they pulled their swords away roughly. The momentum Iecho's blades were utilizing causing him to stumble forward a bit. Tylor then shoved Iecho towards Tim with his hands, where Tim was ready to body-check Iecho to the ground.

Though put on his back by the attack, Iecho recovered quickly by swiping at Tim's legs with his feet. As Tim fell, he used some magic to raise a few tall, thick spikes of ice around Tylor, blocking the path to him

Iecho got to his feet, breathing gently. "You see the power I have now, cousin? You can't win."

Steven looked over at all of his friends who were all slowly getting up. He then turned his attention back to his cousin. "You are in a club all your own," he admitted, to which Iecho smiled. "But I know you and you could never beat me when we were kids and I highly doubt you'll beat me now." Steven held up his Keyblade with both hands.

Iecho laughed. "You were always the better one when we were kids, but that's in the distant past, cousin."

"The past creates the future," Steven retorted. "You spent the past couple of minutes beating up my friends, which creates me beating you up in a few moments."

Iecho didn't take this response kindly, despite how cheesy it sounded. "So what, these friends of yours are more important to you than your own cousin?" He began to run at Steven, both blades out.

Steven's eyes widened a bit, but he held his blade out and prepared himself. "Here goes," he muttered to himself. He took a run at Iecho as well.

"Steven, wait!" yelled Sora. After what he'd just seen Iecho do, he couldn't imagine Steven going up against that, especially being so new with his Keyblade.

But as soon as the blades hit each other, something else showed. The bond as cousins showed in their fighting styles. It was more ferocious and with higher stakes, but the fighting carried the intense spirit of a rivalry between the two cousins, relatives that were like siblings when it came to rivalries.

Despite Iecho's relentless assault with two Keyblades, Steven managed to deflect each blow. Instead of a block, he countered the impact by swiping the Keyblades being swung at him away. When they came close to his body, he appropriately side-stepped them.

"Impressive," Iecho complimented. "You haven't lost a step...yet." At that moment, he kicked at Steven's shin. Steven gasped softly and felt a loss in footing, but he held his Keyblade up in anticipation. Iecho's blades clanged loudly against it. The force sent Steven sliding back a couple inches, though he didn't lose his stance. But in this moment, Iecho leapt away from the site and pointed his Keyblade against the ground. "Wind!" he yelled. At that moment, with the power of two Keyblades, a gust of air kicked up a big cloud of snow, creating a fog that was very difficult to see through. "Come and get me, wimp!"

"Wimp?" Steven sneered. "I'm not the one hiding in fog!"

"It's always best to keep the circumstances in battle to your advantage," Iecho chided from within the cloud.

"Tell that to Darth Maul," Steven taunted. "He had the high ground and look what happened to him."

"This is different," Iecho reminded. "You can't fight blind and you know it."

"Don't have to." Steven held out his Keyblade. _Hope this works,_ he thought to himself. "Freeze!" The vapor in the air before him froze, though in a small chunk. It became solid and fell, thudding against the ground as a block of ice. Steven marched forward, his Keyblade continuing to cast its spell and clearing the vapor. After a few moments walking forward, a soft shadow became visible to him. "There you are," he muttered to himself.

But Iecho was prepared. Raising his Keyblades, he pounded the ground. The vapor dissipated as the icy surface beneath them swelled up, creating a column that lifted into the air. It was a wide array of ground that isolated their fight high above the surface. Steven got back to his feet. The moisture in the air was greater, making the surface more slick. Glancing back at the edge, Steven became wary of the increased danger at this height.

Iecho walked a few steps towards Steven, smirking. "This ground high enough for you?"

Steven dared not speak another word of snark, instead lowering his Keyblade. "Iecho, I don't want to fight you, okay? Let's just talk."

Iecho frowned. "Sorry, cousin. Darkness is my ally now...and darkness doesn't beget mercy." He thrust both his Keyblades forward, shooting one great gust of air. Steven slid seamlessly backward, though remaining upright.

"Whoaaa!" he cried out, waving his arms at the edge a bit as he felt the ground disappear beneath him. "Aaaah!"

He felt the cold gusts of wind cascading around him as he fell, looking up as Iecho looked over the edge to see him falling. Thoughts of escape were no longer going through his head, as he simply couldn't comprehend the idea of his cousin's betrayal.

Thankfully, he didn't need to. In the midst of all the cold air, he felt warm air suddenly envelope him, stopping his fall. "Wha-?" He glanced downward, seeing Sora and Riku with their Keyblades outstretched.

"Doing okay?" called Riku.

Steven's mouth was open for a moment, then he shook his head a bit to clear his senses. "I've seen better days, but things are looking up."

"Good to hear!" Sora smiled, lowering his Keyblade along with Riku. Steven twisted his body a bit as he resumed his fall at a slower pace, landing at his feet. Tylor, Tim and Kairi were not far behind Sora and Riku in joining the fray.

"Now Steven, I know you're a glory-hog and all," Tylor said. "But let us have a little more fun too, okay?"

"Hey, help yourselves," Steven allowed, turning to face upwards. "I can't imagine he's too pleased right now."

Iecho glared down at the group, who awaited another move from him. He growled softly, but it grew louder in volume with his building frustration. "You think your backup will help you?!" he bellowed down. He took a short leap forward off the edge of the icy surface and began to fall towards the Keybearers. He plunged one into the ice, causing friction that slowed his fall. With the other, he aimed at the area where his opponents stood. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" he snarled repeatedly.

Dark fireballs repeatedly fired at the group. Sora and Riku pointed upward with their Keyblades. "Reflect!" they both yelled, creating a barrier to surround them and their friends. The fireballs that hit the surrounding area melted the snow rapidly, created a more stable ground. The gang themselves remained untouched for the moment, but the barrier was beginning to wear thing.

"Reflect!" Sora cast again. "Guys, we can't hold it too much longer!"

"Let me have a shot!" Tim suggested. "Fire with fire, right?"

"We can only keep the barrier down for a second," Riku warned. "We don't want to risk more than we have to."

"Got it," Tim answered confidently. "Just let me know when."

"Reflect!" Riku cast quickly, then held up his hand to signal Tim. A few more fireballs collided with the magical barrier. When it began to dissipate, Riku thrust his hand forward and pointed. "Now, Tim!"

Tim raised his Keyblade and shouted his spell. "FIRE!" A small vibration in Tim's Keyblade coursed before a fireball three times the size of the ones headed their way erupted. It devoured a few of the dark fireballs in its path as it headed for Iecho.

"Huh?!" Iecho's eyes widened when the fireball headed for him. He ducked his head away from it and it collided just above him, dislodging his Keyblade and, in doing so, dislodged him from the ice he was sliding down. He tumbled through the air for a few moments, landing roughly on his back at the bottom.

With a grunt, he rolled onto his front, pushing himself to his feet quickly. He glared over at the Keybearers, covered in snow and shivering. "Well...played," he seethed angrily at them. "But you haven't won this round. I'll be back." He raised his hand behind his back, materializing a swirling vortex of violent and black. He hobbled into it, slowly vanishing.

"Stop him!" Riku shouted, rushing forward, but was too late to intercept Iecho before the portal vanished. He sighed softly. "He got away."

"You heard him, though," Steven said. "He'll be back. What matter is we did good here, right?"

"Are you all right?" Kairi asked, concern in her voice.

"Of course," Steven assured. "The intensity has been jacked much higher, but it's not unlike our childhood scuffles."

"Not that," Kairi corrected herself. "It's just...you're cousins and now he's..."

"Oh..." Steven's tone mellowed out a bit. "Well...not entirely. But I'll make it."

Sora walked up beside Steven. "What do you think could've changed him?" he inquired.

"It's a long, touchy story," Steven answered. "But I suppose we'll have a lot of time to talk about it."

"Can we get back to the ship first?" Tylor asked. "Now that the heat of battle is gone, I'm freezing out here."

Tim held his Keyblade up, a gentle flaming aura engulfing it. "I don't know what you're complaining about," he remarked with a soft smile. "I'm just fine."

"Me too," Steven remarked, with a hint of surprise. "Winter is my least favorite season, but I guess it doesn't bother me now that it's my element."

Sora patted Tylor on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Tylor. I'm all for getting back to the ship too. We have an endangered universe waiting for us out there."

* * *

Stumbling from his dark portal, Iecho stumbled into a room made entirely of stone. In the corner was a bed. Nearby was a wooden chair. There was a singular window looking out that let a little bit of sunlight in, but the main light of the room came from a candle softly flickering in the corner.

"I see you have failed." Iecho flinched at the soft, cold voice that sounded in his room. A pale woman, green-skinned except for a V formation at the top of her head, stood before him. Her cloak draped over most of her body, but her cold stare was perfectly visible.

"What do you expect, Maleficent?" Iecho grumbled. "Six Keybearers on one? I put up a good fight, all things considered, but there was no way that was going to work."

"Imbecile!" Maleficent seemed to glide forward in an instant, bearing upon Iecho. "I will not tolerate such disrespect. Remember what I have promised you: you help me and I will help you find your family. Is that perfectly understood?" Iecho sighed softly and nodded. "What was that?" Maleficent's tone took a subtle increase in distaste.

Iecho rolled his eyes, but knelt anyway. "Yes, m'lady," he reluctantly accepted.

"Good boy." She smiled at him, her tone softening. "Now then...what have you to report?"

"Tim is in their camp," Iecho revealed regretfully. "That makes all of them. I really thought Steven would turn, but he isn't one for darkness. There was nothing to tempt him with, not even me."

"Then you know what must be done?" Maleficent questioned, raising one of her eyebrows.

Without looking up at her, Iecho answered plainly. "I do."

"Good," she commended, turning away. "Now rest, my boy. You will need your energy."

* * *

**Author's Note: Here I am again...after what seems like an eternity. My co-writer took his sweet, sugary time editing the chapter yet again to the point that it's been nearly two years since our last post. I apologize on his behalf (as does he, below) and am glad to inform anyone still reading that we are still bent on writing this story. Stay tuned!**

**Co-Writer's Note: Yet again, I failed to edit this chapter...and by God, I had no idea I was taking that long. I'm sorry if any of you felt like we strung you along unfairly. What I can say is that it will not happen again...hopefully. Real life does get in the way of things, but we will do our best to keep cranking these chapters out with more frequency than we have been. I know this one was short, but we just need you to know we've not given up. Future chapters shall be longer and packed with even more fun stuff.**


	8. Loose Ends and Bad Company

Tim gazed upon the interior of the Gummi Ship. Silently in awe at what was placed before his eyes, Tim's eyes then shifted to his brother who stood next to him.

"You ever think we'd really be up in a spaceship?" Tim asked his brother as he nudged him.

"Not with my grades," Tylor said with a chuckle. "I never imagined I'd be chosen by a mystical weapon that grants me the power of electricity either. But I guess miracles really do happen."

"Amen to that, brother," Tim replied in agreement. Turning away from the windows, he and Tylor entered the cockpit, joining with the rest of the group. "Where are we headed?" He asked as he took a seat in the very back row of seats.

"Radiant Garden," Riku answered, turning around in his seat, resting his arm over it. "We were told by the king to find you guys and here you are. That and it's as good a place as any to regroup, refresh, and figure out what we have to do next."

"Besides, you and Steven haven't met the others," Tylor added, walking casually up to the Gummi Ship's main panel and tapping a few buttons in precise succession. "The people down there are the quite the characters."

Riku turned back to face forward, his eyes widening a bit when he saw Tylor at the control panel. "Tylor!" He rose to his feet and leapt over the seat, tackling Tylor to the ground as he descended. "What're you doing?"

"Hey!" Tylor protested, trying to push at Riku. "What's your deal? Get off!"

Kairi knelt beside the two. "Sorry Tylor, but you don't know how to fly the ship. What if you shot missiles or hit the self-destruct button?"

Tylor blinked. "Why is there a self-destruct button?"

"That's not important!" Sora quickly and defensively interjected. "You have to be careful with stuff you're not familiar with."

"Take it from Sora," Kairi agreed. "He's flown this ship a ton of times and he pressed those buttons just the other day."

Sora's assertive attitude was immediately quashed by Kairi's words and he sighed. "Did you have to bring that up?"

"Hey, a point is a point, Sora," Riku reminded, getting up and allowing Tylor to stand. "If it serves a purpose, it should be made."

Tylor arose and rubbed his neck a bit. "That's fine and all, but I wasn't even close to blowing up the ship. I was just setting our course for Radiant Garden. That is where we're going, right?"

Sora crossed his arms. "You've learned how to control the Gummi Ship?" Sora questioned him. "No way. It's not the kind of machine you can get the hang of quickly. It takes time to learn."

No sooner than he uttered the computer's voice sounded. "_Autopilot engaged. Destination: Radiant Garden_."

The bridge was suddenly filled by the sound of silence. Sora, Riku, and Kairi turned their heads slowly towards Tylor. Sora and Kairi were in awe of the technological prowess of Tylor. Riku, on the other hand, wore an impressed smile.

"You were saying?" Tylor said smugly.

Riku stepped forward, putting a hand on Tylor's shoulder. "I was saying that you're our new pilot." He turned back to face Sora. "Sorry, buddy. You've been demoted."

Sora's already awestruck expression reached a whole new level of surprise at this remark. "What?!" he cried. "But it's my ship!"

"No, it's the king's ship," Riku corrected. "And I'd like to return it to him in one piece. Wouldn't you?"

Sora plopped into the copilot chair, crossing his arms in his disappointment. Tylor walked over, patting him on the back. "Don't feel bad, Sora. Look at the bright side."

Sora glanced up at Tylor. "What's that?"

"I said 'look at the bright side'. I didn't say I was going to tell you what it was," Tylor joked, moving away and sitting in the pilot's chair.

Sora sighed more deeply this time. He felt another pat on his back, turning to see Steven offering his gesture of sympathy. "Sorry, Sora. He gets me all the time with that one."

Sora raised his eyebrows a bit at this. "Since we're all in for this journey together, I have to ask: should I expect this kind of stuff from you guys a lot?"

"You can count on it," Steven promised with a cheerful smirk.

Tim smiled softly at the quips going on around him, though he still appeared subdued in his expression. Noticing this, Kairi joined him at the back of the cockpit. "You look like you've got a little something on your mind," she noted.

Tim put on a bit of a smile, though it was a bit of a struggle to do so. "I'm doing all right," he reassured. Kairi didn't respond, giving him a moment of silence. After a moment of thought, Tim spoke again. "Well, all things considered, I guess."

"You're still reeling a bit from your world being swallowed in darkness," Kairi determined. Overhearing this, Steven turned towards them, kneeling in his chair and resting his arms over the back of it.

"You could say that," Tim admitted. "I mean, the apocalypse doesn't happen every day, and it's a bit surreal to be a survivor of one. I'm glad that my brother's alive and all-"

"What about me, Tim?" Steven quipped with a hint of fake sadness. "Aren't you happy I'm alive?"

"Of course I am," Tim answered. "But dude, that was our home."

"Don't start feeling down, Tim!" Kairi coaxed in a gentle, comforting tone. "It's not really the end after all." Tim lifted his head, grabbing a little hope from what Kairi was saying. "I know what you're going through. My world was swallowed in darkness once, but it came back after Sora and Riku saved the universe."

"Just like that?" Tim questioned in a skeptical, yet optimistic tone.

"Uh-huh," Kairi confirmed. "And your world will come back too."

Steven glanced at Tim, pointing at him a bit. "Oooh, what's that? Is that a smile?"

Tim, indeed smiling, reached over and gave Steven's shoulder a light shove. "Shut up, man!" None the less, he turned his attention to Kairi. "Thanks, though. I really needed to hear that."

"See?" Steven remarked reassuringly. "Now that we've all got that stuff about our world off our chests, we can focus on saving other worlds."

"That's good to hear." The three looked up to see that Riku, Tylor, and Sora had come back to join in on the conversation. Riku continued speaking to them. "One way you might be able to help us is to tell us what happened when your world was attacked. It could give us a better idea about what we're up against."

Tylor exchanged glances with Steven and Tim, who both took a moment to think before nodding. In agreement, Tylor stepped away, standing alongside Steven and Tim. "Alright," he said. "I'll go first."

* * *

"…and after I got out of that jam, I started looking for my family," Tim finished, being the last to tell his story.

"Aww, Tim!" Tylor cooed teasingly. "You really do care!"

"Well, it was the apocalypse," Tim reminded. "That seemed like a pretty good time to show it."

"That's sentimental and all, but pretty cold, too," Steven remarked with a chuckle.

"Tylor, you mentioned that Auron was there," Sora inquired. "Did he tell you anything important?"

"Yeah, he did," Tylor confirmed. "He said something about looking for people with powers. Talking about the three of us, of course," he said in conjunction with a gesture towards himself, his brother, and his friend.

"He knew you were important," Riku affirmed. "I guess he was there to make sure you guys had some protection so that you could have a chance to make it out."

"That's Auron for you," Sora chimed in. "Always the guardian."

"What happened next, though?" Kairi wondered. "

"Well, then we met up with each other," Tylor began.

**FLASHBACK**

* * *

In order to avoid the danger plaguing the streets, Auron and Tylor leapt from the roofs of one house to another. Tylor was simply following Auron's lead, but was still a little flabbergasted at the feats he was accomplishing. "I never imagined that I could jump like this!" Tylor yelled to Auron who was ahead of him.

Auron smirked a little. "You're in for many more surprises than that," he assured quietly.

Looking out from the roof, Tylor grimaced at the crumbling city, the rubble vanishing into the purple clouds that covered most of the ground. "You got that right…"

Auron bowed his head a little bit. "I'm sorry," he voiced.

"What do you mean?" Tylor glanced back at Auron. "You saved my life back there."

"For your world," Auron clarified, looking out at the chaos unfolding. "I must have seen this so many times, and yet it's never less horrible." He unclenched his fist a little. "At least I can take solace in the fact that no world has to face this permanent fate. You will be able to save it, as well as other worlds."

Tylor blinked in confusion a couple of times. "What?" he questioned, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm the guy you're talking about." Auron stayed silent and looked up at the sky. In the distance, he spotted the exceptional brightness of a star above all others. Tylor's eyes followed where Auron seemed to be glancing, making eye contact with the star just before it blinked out of the sky. "Huh?"

"There goes another one," Auron grimly observed. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

Tylor's eyes widened a little. "What?" he cried, panic settling in. "But I need your help! We have to fight them, don't we?"

"You do, yes," Auron confirmed. "But you won't need a guardian for much longer. Others will." He stepped away from Tylor, holding a hand out as the boy tried to step towards him. "Next time we see each other, you'll be more than capable of taking care of yourself." He held up his arm, saluting Tylor briefly. "Stay strong, Tylor."

At that moment, a bright column of light cascaded down and engulfed Auron. Tylor used his arm to cover his eyes from the intense brightness. As it started fading, he let it down and rushed towards it. "Auron, wait!" he yelled. As soon as he got to the point where the light hit, it was gone. In his rush, Tylor went too far. "Whoaa…" He teetered for a moment on his feet, feeling gravity take its course. "Whoa!" he yelled as his body tipped over and he fell from the roof.

He landed in some bushes, which cushioned his fall a little, but the sheer effect of falling did a small number on him. "Great," Tylor groaned, struggling to get to his feet and brushing the twigs off of him. "First this craziness, then my only hope to know what's going on vanishes, and then I fall off a house. Someone tell me this day gets even better."

A snarl sounded nearby, to which Tylor's attention was taken. Advancing through the streets in a marching fashion were about a dozen humanoid creatures, all of them sprouting appendages made of ice, crystallized as such to form pointed icicles.

Tylor sighed. "Thanks, Auron…thanks a bunch."

The ice creatures began to approach and Tylor held out his hands. With little but instinct guiding him, he fired small charges of lightning at the ice creatures. It seemed to hinder them only slightly, as a good portion of the charges were merely deflected off of the creatures by the crystallized surface of their skin.

"Well, this doesn't fare well for me," Tylor muttered bitterly as the creatures advanced further still, their footsteps crunching beneath them. However, their next steps made a squelching noise. The area in general became more heated. From the back of the small mob approaching him, Tylor could see a flurry of fireballs being flung, melting the monsters that bore down on him.

As they became crippled and dissolved into mere puddles, Tylor could see the familiar blonde hair of his twin brother. "Backed into a corner where I have to bail you out: just like eighth grade, huh Tylor?"

"Tim!" Tylor gasped softly, splashing through the puddle as he rushed towards his brother. "How did you do that?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Electric Man," Tim said, surveying the area for more creatures. "But not right now. " Tylor nodded in agreement and they began to run.

Their escape took them through the streets and alleyways, avoiding as much trouble as they could. It was not to last, however, as they heard a scream. Poking their heads out of the alleyways, they could see a father, mother, and their son surrounded by similar humanoid creatures, engulfed in fire rather than ice.

"Hey! Over here!" Tylor yelled, averting the creatures' attention. "Leave them alone!" He emphasized his demand by sparking up his hands. In an instant, the creatures turned and marched towards the two brothers. Tylor spoke sideways to Tim. "Holy crap, that actually worked," he noted surprisingly.

"But they're coming for us now!" Tim pointed out.

"Bring them on!" Tylor hollered, punching the air in front of him to send sparks of electricity at the advancing foes. To his dismay, the bolts nicked against the creatures and did little but slow them down by a short step. "Uh...Tim? Any ideas?"

"I think so," Tim answered, lighting his hands up with flames. "Fight fire with fire!" He flung his fireballs at the creatures, hitting each one in quick succession. They stopped in their tracks for a moment, shaking from the impact. However, they increased in size by a few inches and bulked up a little too.

"Any _other_ ideas?" Tylor nervously asked, backing away.

Tim glanced behind the creatures, finding their route of escape. "Well, like the Doctor always says...run!" He broke into a sprint, to which Tylor closely followed. The fire creatures attacked with flame. Though none of them scored a direct hit, the heat singed the edges of their clothing a bit.

To their great misfortune, the creatures were in a literally hot pursuit of Tim and Tylor. The brothers weaved through various alleyways and shortcuts that they knew in their town. But whatever curvy path they tried to escape down, the creatures would simply burn through any obstacles in their way.

"Tim..." Tylor wheezed, his breath growing faint. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."

"You can't!" Tim urged fiercely. "Don't give up, Ty- BRR!" Tim shuddered suddenly, stopping in his tracks, prompting Tylor to do so. "What the...did it just drop twenty degrees?" He turned back to look and could spot a tall, black-haired figure in front of the fire creatures, coating them in a steady stream of ice. The substance instantly melted when it came into contact with the fire, dampening the flames until the creatures themselves had been washed away.

The figure turned to face them. "Hey guys. I was following you from a few blocks down. Everything cool now?"

"Steven!" Tylor exclaimed. "I have to say, I'm..._shocked_ to see you here."

"Guys, come on!" Tim chastised. "The world is collapsing around us!"

"We'll be fine, Tim," Steven assured. "No need to get hot under the collar."

"Steven!" Tim grumbled, before letting out a sigh. "Seriously..." He shook his head a little, than clapped his friend on the back. "My day is bad enough, so I'll just take your puns as the bright side for now."

"You're telling me. I'm just glad I found you guys." Steven gestured out into the city. "What's happening out there?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Tylor replied with a shrug. "I'm willing to cry 'aliens' at this point."

"You can cry whatever you want," Tim brushed off. "We're all together now. We gotta get back to our families." He led the run into the street, upon which the three started to rush back the way they came. But after only a few seconds of running, they could spot all kinds of creatures headed their way; creatures of fog, ice, and fire alike were convening from around the city, drawn towards the three boys as if their strength was a beacon.

"Our luck cannot be this bad," Steven groaned.

"Well, it is." Tylor flexed his fingers, once again making them crackle with electricity. His brother and his best friend followed suit with their respective powers. "You know, we always talked about what we'd do in an apocalypse. How do you guys feel now that it's here?"

"Pretty freaked," Tim admitted. "But when we talked about it, we didn't have superpowers."

"Hopefully that evens the odds," Steven finished. The first wave of creatures closed in. With that, Tylor shot a bolt of lightning at the fog creatures, creating a chain strike that disintegrated a few of them at once.

Steven flung his arms forward, spraying the ground before them with ice. A few of the ice creatures started to sway on the slick surface while others fell on their backs. The fire creatures, meanwhile, marched upon it and melted it away. In turn, Steven blasted the first couple of their rank relentlessly, watering them down.

Beyond the ranks of the advancing fire creatures, Tim let loose his own fire that caused the ice creatures to consistently melt. He also created a line of fire that served as something of a barrier to any more of the ice creatures.

However, through all this, their energy was depleted. They couldn't consistently hold off a barrage of the creatures and they didn't quit advancing towards them. Even moving away from them didn't prove useful.

Tim threw a wave of fire through the air, though it was considerably smaller than some of the previous ones he had projected. "I don't know if I can do this anymore," he confessed, his voice in a bit of a wheeze.

"Me either," Steven replied, allowing the icy energy flowing from his body to dissipate into vapor.

Tylor flung various electric bolts from his arms, vigorously trying to defend himself and his friends, but losing energy just as they had. Though there were many meters between them and the creatures now, the strength was not going to linger. "We have to...keep going."

"Tylor..." Tim put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Tylor looked into his brother's eyes. Rather than sadness or despair, he saw strength. Though it failed his brother physically, his spirit had the strength to see the truth and accept it. "I think this is the end for us."

"Jeez, Tim," Steven mused. "No need to be so..._cold._" Tim and Tylor glanced over at their friend, each with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, come on!" Steven exclaimed. "Not even a chuckle?" He walked up to them and put a hand on one shoulder of each of his friends. "Listen, the world may be ending, but I think the least we can do is go out with a smile on our faces."

Bizarrely, the two were able to smile at that moment. Tylor put each hand on the shoulders of his brother and Steven. Tim followed by placing his other hand on Steven's shoulder. At the end, they were two blood brothers and their best friend, together.

"It's been a swell ride, you guys," Tylor said in closing.

The trio closed their eyes as the creatures swarmed around them. Their fate was sealed and they had accepted it.

And yet, after a few seconds, they felt nothing. They also heard nothing. They opened up their eyes to see that the creatures had vanished.

_This is not the end._

The three flinched at the same time. A voice had sounded in their heads simultaneously.

_There is still much to be done._

The outside world became invisible to them as they were enveloped in a bright light. They could see nothing but it and themselves in their surroundings. Glancing at each other in bewilderment, the boys dared not even move from where they stood.

_You must go your separate ways, but you shall come together again._

An air of lightness took over and the boys felt their feet leave the ground. Their bewilderment becoming concern after hearing what they voice said, they reached out with their hands to the center, trying to grab hold of each other again.

_When you do, your purpose will be clear._

Just as their fingertips made contact, all of them were tugged by this invisible force, upward into this neverending light that had surrounded them. The world beneath them was fast fading and they knew not where they were headed.

_You each have your own Element. Learn their strengths and they shall serve you well._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

"And after that, I woke up in Radiant Garden," Tylor finished. "That's not too long before you guys found me."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat a moment longer, letting this new information form coherently in their minds as they finished processing the incredible story they'd been told.

Riku broke the silence first. "That leaves only another quick question: how come you didn't mention this earlier? We talked to Tylor first and he left out most of that stuff."

"It honestly wasn't on my mind," Tylor confessed. "So many weird things were happening around me that it just didn't quite occur."

"Being jettisoned to a different world isolated is kind of a big deal," Steven added.

"Meaning we had other questions that need answering first," Tim finished. "We had to prioritize surviving and comprehending wherever the heck we were."

Sora shrugged. "I've heard true things that make less sense than that."

"Our turn for questions," Tylor instigated next. "That weird voice in our head...what was that?"

Sora scratched his chin for a moment, thinking about when the same thing had happened to him when he had first come into possession of the Keyblade, but ultimately had no answer, so he gave only a shrug in response. The silence was cut off shortly after by the Gummi Ship's computer.

"_Destination reached." _They turned towards the control panel of the ship. "_Radiant Garden."_

All of the teenagers stood up and looked out the window. Descending from the sky, the clouds dissipated around them as the autopilot systems slowly decreased the exhaust from the engines, lowering them upon a large landing platform on the outer edge of town. Once stable upon it, the ramp was lowered.

Tim and Steven were the first to poke their heads out, curious about their new surroundings. "This is it, huh?" Tim mused.

"It's got a very classic look to it," Steven added. "Made of stone and village-like. I've always wondered what it'd be like to live in one of those."

"Glad you like it." Sora walked down the ramp first, followed by the others. "A lot of our good friends live here."

"This'll be great!" Kairi exclaimed. "You're going to meet Yuffie, Leon, Aer-" Her sentence was cut short as a street market with a series of vendors caught her eye. She exhaled softly, smiled widely and turned to Sora.

With a half-hearted roll of his eyes, Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch of munny, handing it to Kairi. "Here you go."

Kairi squealed softly, grabbed the munny, and took off. "Thank you, Sora!" she called back.

As Sora watched her go, Riku quietly walked up behind him. "Sap," he stated, walking off with no further words.

Sora followed after him. "Shut up," he muttered.

Riku and Sora led the other three into the appropriate area. The house would have blended into the stone wall perfectly, but the colored tiles of the roof and visible window gave it away, as did the wooden door in perfect view.

"Nice!" Steven complimented with much enthusiasm.

Sora glanced at Steven in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well think about it Sora," Steven began. "We are heroes trying to destroy the darkness. And some dark beings will want to stop us from doing that. So where else to have a secret hideout but where they'll least expect it?" He waited for someone to answer, but he was receiving a lot of blank stares. "Don't you see, guys? They'd _never _expect us inside a civilian house!"

Before anyone could say anything to Steven's remark, the door opened up softly. Turning to face the doorway, a familiar brown-haired girl in a pink dress welcomed them.

"Welcome back, Sora," Aerith greeted. "I thought I heard your voice." She turned her gaze to the others, raising an eyebrow. "Hello again, Tylor. Are these the other Elements?"

"Yup," Tylor confirmed. "This is my brother Tim and my best friend Steven."

"Hi there." Aerith walked up and held a hand out to Tim first. "My name is Aerith."

"Nice to meet you," Tim politely reciprocated before Aerith offered her hand to Steven.

"Hello!" Steven greeted with a smile. "Good to meet you, ma'am."

"I'm very glad to see you as well," Aerith replied. "Leon was afraid Sora might not be able to bring you all together in time."

Sora crossed his arms gently. "Why?" he asked in a jokingly defensive tone. "Didn't think we could handle it?"

"Not in the slightest." The sudden presence of Leon's low voice drew everyone's attention as he stepped through the doorway. "But with Maleficent getting personally involved in going after Tylor when he landed here, I was worried how far she'd go to get the other two."

"Well, we're alive, aren't we?" Tim offered, gesturing to his entire body.

"Maleficent wasn't much trouble at all," Riku explained. "She sent a lackey of hers when we found Tim, but we fought him off. He's no pushover, though."

"Did you find more about who he is?" Leon asked. It was at this moment that things got a bit quiet. Leon's expression softened a little, into one of slight concern. After a moment, Steven stepped forward with a sigh.

"His name is Iecho," Steven confessed. "And he's my cousin."

"Your cousin..." Leon furrowed his brow. "How did that happen?"

"This...Maleficent wanted us, right?" Steven asked, getting a nod of confirmation. "Well, she did manage to get to Iecho in the way that she couldn't get to Tylor. He's in her corner now..." His voice trailed off after the last sentence.

"I see," Leon spoke blankly. "That's unfortunate, but don't give up just yet. You're not the only one who had someone they cared about lost to darkness." He nodded at Sora and Riku at the mention of that.

Steven glanced up. "Who said I'd given up?" he said. "Not a chance. Iecho's coming back. I have...no clue how I'm going to get him to, but he will."

Leon nodded gently, then glanced to Tim. "So you're the other Elemental Keybearers. My name's Leon."

"Tim," responded Tim.

Steven held up his hand in a quick wave. "I'm Steven."

"Come inside," Leon bid him. "Yuffie and Cid are here as well."

"Yuffie?" Steven repeated, then nodded slightly. "That's a cool name."

Following the lead of Leon, the Keybearers walked into the house. They were privy a large, singular room where a blonde man was hunched over a computer. Plastered all around the room were various sheets of paper, but none more than around the computer. Off to the side, there was a table where a girl sat, hunched over something else.

"They're here," Leon declared quietly. The blonde man got up and walked towards them. "This is Cid," Leon introduced. "He's our tech expert."

"Nice to meet you, new guys," Cid greeted, his eyes focused on Steven and Tim. "I already made the acquaintance of Mister Lightning, so who're you two?"

"I'm Tim," Tim introduced. "I have the power of fire." He held his hand out. "This is Steven-

"-and I have the power of ice," Steven finished quickly. "I can handle my own introduction, Tim."

Tim defensively put his hands up. "Okay...sheesh."

Cid crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Fire and Ice, eh? Well, I'll put the same question to you that I put to Tylor: am I gonna be fried or frozen if I shake your hands?"

"Not at all," Tim assured as he held out his hand to accept Cid's handshake.

Steven aptly shook the mechanic's hand next. "Hey there," he greeted.

"Hello," Cid replied. "About time we get a guy of your stature around here. There's always-"

Steven could no longer hear Cid, however. He had caught sight of the girl with the cool name: Yuffie. She was hunched over the table, upon which rested a few different pies. She held a slice with both hands, practically stuffing her face. Suddenly, it was as if everything Steven saw was in slow motion and slightly hazy, the only clear image being Yuffie.

"So I think it'll be nice having another tall guy on our team," Cid finished. He waited a moment, but Steven was still staring in the distance. "Kid?" He nudged Steven's shoulder lightly, snapping him out of it.

Steven stumbled a bit, but quickly got back on his feet. "Yeah!" he answered quickly. "Sorry about that. Uh...glad to take some of the weight off your shoulders, fellow tall guy!" A smile from Cid told Steven he had made a good move. "So is that...Yuffie?"

"That it is," Cid confirmed. "Want me to introduce ya?"

Steven shook his head. "No thanks. I can introduce myself just fine." He shot another glare at TIm with those words, to which Tim rolled his eyes. "But, uh..." Steven's voice became inaudible to Cid at his next words. "Is she single?"

Cid titled his head. "What?"

"What?" Steven responded quickly before shuffling over to the table without another word, not wanting anything to show on his face that would give him away. He held out a finger to tap her on the shoulder.

"HIYA!" The seemingly occupied girl had spun on her seat in a flash and taken hold of Steven's outstretched finger with her fist. Steven's eyes were a bit wide at the sight, but he dared not move from where he stood. "Oh..." Yuffie smiled slightly. "You one of the new guys?" She let go and spun back around. "Be careful. It isn't wise to sneak up on a ninja." Without a second to waste, she grabbed another slice of pie and started munching it like crazy.

Steven's intrigue rose when he heard these words. "Oh, you're a ninja?" he inquired, sitting down.

"Mhmm! Mm th Grt-" Yuffie paused a moment to swallow what was in her mouth. "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

"Nice to meet you Great Ninja Yuffie" Steven said with a smile. "So how did you decide to become a ninja?"

"Well, I grew up among a culture of ninjas," Yuffie began. "So you could say I've been..."

Steven tuned out the spoken words yet again, for his trance had returned. This time, however, his focus was on the pie that was spread across the table. Three of them. One of them looked like a fruit pie of some sort. The second one seemed to have a crisp, granola crust of some kind. The third was covered in cream on top.

"And by now, I'm definitely the greatest ninja you'll find anywhere," Yuffie said in finality and confidence. She paused for a moment, glancing at Steven, who was still dazed. "Uh, hello?" she waved a hand in front of Steven's eyes. "Steven?"

She poked him gently in the forehead, causing him to snap back to reality once again. "Wha-?" He blinked a few times. "Oh...sorry about that. I just..." He pointed to the granola-encrusted pie. "Is that rhubarb?"

Without another word, Yuffie slid the entire pie Steven's way. "Help yourself!" she offered kindly.

With the tray sitting before him, Steven licked his lips in anticipation and delicately picked up one of the pieces of rhubarb pie. He eyed it carefully, preparing his sense for the delicious treat he was about to enjoy.

Then he stuffed it in his face, not unlike how Yuffie had been doing only a minute ago. The ninja was quick to resume her eating frenzy as well. Other conversations carried on as usual, but Tim and Tylor were currently focused upon the messy spectacle that Steven and Yuffie were displaying.

"Tim?" Tylor spoke up after a few seconds of staring. "You think those two would make a good couple?"

"You're asking me if I believe two people who have only exchanged a few sentences and know nothing about each other except a mutual love for pie would make a good couple?" Tim asked flatly. He waited a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Tylor glared at his brother. "You're such a smartass."

"You wouldn't believe it was me if I wasn't," Tim happily replied before walking up.

Yuffie turned towards Tim and waved. She began to speak with food in her mouth again but Tim held up his hand. "You don't have to. I know you're Yuffie."

"Jeez, Tim," Steven quipped. "You won't let anybody introduce themselves today, will you?"

Ignoring Steven, Tim held out a hand. "I'm Tim."

Yuffie gulped down her pie and returned the handshake. "Nice to meet you Tim." She smiled and then turned her attention across the room to Sora. "So where's your lovebird, Sora?"

Sora's cheeks flushed with color at these words and he lost his ability to speak for the moment. "What're you...I dunno...uh..."

Yuffie shook her head. "Boys," she muttered. "Where's Kairi?"

"She went shopping before we came here," Sora answered. "She hasn't come back just yet."

"She went shopping without me?" Yuffie crossed her arms. "Well that's just rude." She pouted.

Sora tilted his head. "You don't strike me as the kind of girl who likes shopping."

"What?" Yuffie questioned. "You think my stock of ninja stars is bottomless?"

"You sure she's okay on her own?" Leon asked from a few feet away.

"She'll be fine," Riku assured. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Though it was obviously a rhetorical question, Tim decided to give it an answer. "Oh! I got it: She sees a cute shirt she really wants, but it's too expensive. So she steals it from the store and gets chased by cops. Even though she's fast, the cops have hovering skate boards, so they catch her and throw her in jail. So we sneak in and break her out, making all of us fugitives on the run for the rest of our days."

This nonsensical ramble was met with a blank look by everybody in the room for several seconds before Tim spoke again. "What? Riku said 'worst'."

"I like it!" Steven exclaimed all of a sudden. "And those cops would have no chance against the Great Ninja Yuffie, right?"

Yuffie glanced at Steven as she heard this, but smiled at the praise she received. "Yeah! Up top!" On cue, she and Steven shared a high-five.

Leon sighed gently, silently praying for an interruption. At that moment, a communicator at his waist began to beep. He picked it up and pressed a button. "Leon here. What's the status?"

"_Hiccup here,_" the dragon-riding boy answered. "_I'm seeing a few shady characters around town._"

"Give me details," Leon requested. Sora stepped away from the group first, his level of concern rising.

"_Well, normal civilians don't run around in dark clothing, jumping roof tops with weapons." _Hiccup explained. "_Except maybe Yuffie. I would have taken care of them myself, but they've got guns. Toothless' armor can't protect from bullets. Sorry."_

"Don't worry," Leon assured. "We understand. Thanks for the info. Do you know where they're headed?"

"_Doesn't look like it_," Hiccup reported. "_They're turning their heads around, so it looks like they're looking around for something. That's all I got._"

Leon nodded. "Listen, Hiccup: Kairi is out there shopping right now. Head over to marketplace and see if you can spot her."

"Will do Leon" Hiccup replied. "Hiccup out!"

Leon turned to everyone in the room. "Listen up, everyone! You know the situation. We need to find these guys and figure out what they're up to." He walked over to one of the walls by the computer, picking up his heavy Gunblade and resting it on his shoulder. "I'm expecting them to be hostile," he warned. "So let's find Kairi first. Once she's safe, we'll take care of them."

"Alright!" Yuffie yelled, leaping from her seat. "I'll go get my shuriken!"

"You guys go on ahead, kids," Cid said, plopping happily in his chair. "I'm right at home working the defense systems."

"Oh really?" Sora crossed his arms and smirked softly. "Not up for a fight, Gramps?"

"Zip it, Spiky, or I'll zip it for ya," Cid grumbled. "Got enough zippers on that outfit of yours, I'll take any one of them."

"O...kay," Sora accepted, quietly shuffling away out the door. "Let's go!"

* * *

Kairi sighed peacefully as she walked along what Sora described as the a huge canyon. According to his story, this is the site where he fought over a thousand Heartless on his own. She shook her head softly at the thought. Grand as Sora's reputation was for defeating Heartless, even she questioned the plausibility of that particular tale.

After giving that a brief thought, she allowed her mind to empty again, walking along as she swung a small bag containing the items she had purchased in the town's market. The stresses of fighting were new to her and, in addition to shopping, having a place to get away where it was quiet was much-needed therapy for her.

This relief was not to last, however. Kairi twitched a bit when she heard footsteps. They weren't nearby, but the canyon was so quiet that she could hear herself think, so it only fit that she could hear anything else in the area. She turned towards the direction she came from, spotting three figures advancing towards her.

The first one was a man who was about the height of Riku, adorned from head to toe in a long-sleeved black shirt, as well as black pants and shoes. His hair was a dark blue as well as very long, but only on the right half of his head. The other half was completely bald.

The second individual was a rather large man who stood what looked over a foot taller than the man next to him. His stature was intimidating enough, but to add his was his massive amount of muscle. He was identically dressed and had a scar on his cheek that trailed all the way down his neck, ending at his collarbone.

The third was a woman who looked to be the same height as Kairi. Her hair was almost entirely black, with only a single red streak standing out in front of her face on the right side. Like the men, she wore black attire, her midriff showing beneath the shirt she had chosen to wear. Unlike the men, she wore red gloves and shoes. She walked at the forefront of the group and a vile smirk crossed her face when they were merely twenty feet from Kairi.

"Well, well, well...look who we have here, boys," she said in a sharp, intimidating tone. "The little Princess of Heart, without her body guards?" Kairi dropped her shopping bag and took a deep breath, clenching her firsts softly in anticipation of what these people might do. "Oh, and look: she wants to play!" She glanced over her shoulder at the blue-haired man. "Shall we play a game with her, boys?"

The shorter guy chuckled gently. "As long as she doesn't mind playing a rag doll!" Kairi gritted her teeth. Even after gaining her own Keyblade, she was still treated like some damsel who needed rescuing. Truth be told, she felt a little like that herself. Even with a Keyblade, she lacked experience on how to use it and these three looked like they had seen some roughness on plenty of occasions.

Still, she had to defend herself. She held out her arm, upon which her Keyblade appeared in her hand. She held it out in front of her with both hands, pointed at the slight upward angle that one would make when holding a sword this way. She took another deep breath to mentally prepare herself for battle.

_You can do this,_ she thought to herself. Then she lunged forward.


End file.
